Iran Shuts Down Internet As Supreme Leader Issues Warning To Demonstrators

On Friday, Iran experienced widespread internet disruption as authorities implemented blackout measures to limit growing demonstrations.

The shutdown left the country largely isolated, with international phone calls failing to connect, flight cancellations occurring, and Iranian news websites only sporadically providing updates.

Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, Iran’s Supreme Leader, claimed demonstrators were operating under the direction of U.S. President Donald Trump.

He characterized rioters as targeting public infrastructure and cautioned that Tehran would not accept individuals serving as “mercenaries for foreigners.”

The demonstrations, initially sparked by rising inflation, have not reached the magnitude of the upheaval that occurred three years prior.

However, they have expanded throughout Iran, with reports of dozens of casualties. The government appears increasingly susceptible due to a struggling economy and consequences from the previous year’s conflict with Israel and the United States.

According to Iranian rights organization Hengaw, security forces opened fire on a protest march following Friday prayers in Zahedan, a region with a significant Baluch minority population, resulting in multiple injuries.

Various Iranian opposition groups in exile urged continued demonstrations on Friday. Reza Pahlavi, the exiled offspring of Iran’s former shah, posted on social media, telling Iranians: “The eyes of the world are upon you. Take to the streets.”

Trump, who conducted bombing operations against Iran the previous summer and recently suggested possible U.S. assistance to protesters, stated on Friday he had no plans to meet Pahlavi and questioned whether supporting him would be “not sure that it would be appropriate.”

Related: US Accuses Iran Of Attempting To Assassinate Donald Trump

State television broadcast images overnight depicting burning buses, vehicles, and motorcycles, along with fires at subway stations and financial institutions.

Officials blamed the People’s Mujahedin Organisation, an opposition group that broke away following the 1979 Islamic Revolution and also goes by the name MKO, for instigating the disorder.

A state TV journalist standing in front of the fires on Shariati Street in the Caspian Sea port of Rasht said: “This looks like a war zone – all the shops have been destroyed.”

Reuters authenticated videos from Tehran showing hundreds of demonstrators marching. In one of the videos, a woman could be heard shouting, “Death to Khamenei!”

While Iran has successfully suppressed larger episodes of civil unrest previously, the country currently confronts a more severe economic crisis and mounting international pressure, with worldwide sanctions related to its controversial nuclear program reinstated since September.

Authorities have adopted a two-pronged strategy—acknowledging economic grievances as valid while denouncing what they characterize as violent agitators and deploying security forces for suppression.

Parliament Speaker Mohammad Baqer Qalibaf told lawmakers that the voices of protesters must be heard but that any cases linked to “foreign spy networks” must be handled differently.

On Friday, the Supreme Leader, who holds the highest authority in Iran above both the elected president and parliament, employed more forceful rhetoric in his address.

“The Islamic Republic came to power through the blood of hundreds of thousands of honourable people. It will not back down in the face of vandals,” he said, accusing those involved in unrest of seeking to please Trump.

Although the initial demonstrations centered on economic concerns—with the rial currency depreciating by half against the dollar over the past year and inflation exceeding 40% in December—they have evolved to encompass direct criticism of the government.

Demonstrators have chanted slogans including “death to the dictator” and praising the former monarchy that was overthrown in 1979.

The Dubai Airport website indicated that at least six flights scheduled for Friday between Dubai and various Iranian cities were cancelled.