Unrest has gripped Iranian cities since late last month due to rising living costs and a depreciating currency
NetBlocks, a global monitoring organization, reported a countrywide internet shutdown in Iran on Thursday. Demonstrations have been sweeping the nation since late December, driven by hyperinflation and a persistent economic downturn in the sanctioned Islamic republic.
Additional details about the internet disruption were not immediately accessible.
The countrywide disturbances, described as the most severe in recent years, quickly expanded to numerous urban centers and allegedly resulted in fatal confrontations with Iranian security forces, as some demonstrators called for the return of the monarchy.
Reza Pahlavi, the exiled heir of Iran’s deceased Shah who was overthrown in the 1979 Islamic Revolution, urged continued demonstrations in a video shared on X this Wednesday.
VIDEO: 🇮🇷 Violent clashes in Iran as protests spread to new areas
Twelve days of protests have rocked the country, spreading to all of its 31 provinces, according to the US-based HRANA monitoring group. The movement originated with a shutdown on the Tehran bazaar on 28 December…
— AFP News Agency (@AFP)
According to reports, a minimum of 21 individuals have died during the demonstrations. Tasnim news agency published footage from Qazvin city in northern Iran, which seems to depict a violent assault on a security official. Per the agency’s sources, the official carried no weapons and “was merely encouraging those on the street to voice their dissent without resorting to insults or destruction of public assets.”
State media reported on Thursday that President Masoud Pezeshkian cautioned local vendors against stockpiling or inflating prices. He emphasized that citizens must not face scarcities and called on the administration to guarantee adequate stock levels and rigorously track prices across the country.
Nevertheless, Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei has declared that rioters should be “dealt with appropriately.” The nation’s chief justice has likewise charged the protesters with “acting in coordination” with the United States and Israel.