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Iran was largely cut off from the outside world on Friday after authorities banned internet access to curb growing unrestas video showed buildings and vehicles on fire as anti-government protests raged on the streets of several cities.
This frame grab from a video released Friday, Jan. 9, 2026, by Iranian state television shows cars driving past burning vehicles during a night of mass protests in Tehran, Iran. (Iranian State Television via AP).
In a televised address, Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei vowed not to back down, accusing protesters of acting on behalf of émigré opposition groups and the United States, as rights groups reported police shooting at demonstrators in the south.
The unrest has not mobilized as many sections of society as other episodes of political, economic or human rights protest over the past 15 years, but dozens of people are believed to have died and authorities appear more vulnerable due to a dire economic situation and the aftermath of last year’s war with Israel and the United States.
While the initial protests were focused on the economy, with the rial currency losing half its value against the dollar last year and inflation surpassing 40 percent in December, they turned into slogans aimed directly at the authorities.
Buildings, vehicles on fire
The Internet outage has significantly reduced the amount of information disseminated. Phone calls to Iran were not coming through. At least 17 flights between Dubai and Iran were canceled, Dubai Airport’s website showed.
The protests began late last month with shopkeepers and bazaar vendors against inflation and the rial, but quickly spread to universities and provincial towns, with young men clashing with security forces.
In this still image capture of video taken by an individual not employed by The Associated Press and obtained by the AP outside Iran, shows people blocking an intersection during a protest in Tehran, Iran, Thursday, Jan. 8, 2026. (UGC via AP).
Images released by state television overnight showed buses, cars and motorbikes on fire, as well as fires at underground train stations and banks. He blamed the unrest on the People’s Mojahedin Organization, a foreign-based opposition faction that split after the 1979 Islamic Revolution and is also known as the MKO.
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A state television journalist, standing outside the fires on Shariati Street in the Caspian Sea port of Rasht, said: “It looks like a war zone – all the shops have been destroyed. »
Videos verified by Reuters as having been taken in the capital Tehran showed hundreds of people marching. In one of the videos, a woman could be heard shouting “Death to Khamenei!”
Iranian rights group Hengaw reported that a protest march after Friday prayers in Zahedan, where the Baloch minority predominates, was met with gunfire that injured several people.
Authorities have attempted a dual approach: calling protests against the economy legitimate while condemning what they call violent rioters and cracking down on security forces.
A man rides a bicycle while others walk as shops are closed during protests in the century-old main bazaar in Tehran, Iran, Tuesday, Jan. 6, 2026. (AP Photo/Vahid Salemi).
The Supreme Leader, the ultimate authority in Iran, above the elected president and Parliament, used harsh language in his speech.
“The Islamic Republic came to power thanks to the blood of hundreds of thousands of honorable people. It will not back down in the face of vandals,” he said, accusing those involved in the unrest of seeking to please US President Donald Trump.
The head of the judiciary, Gholamhossein Mohseni Ejei, was quoted by state media as saying the punishment of the rioters would be “decisive, maximum and without legal leniency”.
Iran’s fragmented foreign policy opposition factions called for more demonstrations, and demonstrators chanted slogans such as “Death to the dictator!” and praising the monarchy overthrown in 1979.
Reza Pahlavi, exiled son of the late Shah, told Iranians in a social media message: “The eyes of the world are on you. Take to the streets.”
In this photo posted by an official website of Iran’s Supreme Leader’s Office, Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei speaks during a meeting in Tehran, Iran, Saturday, Jan. 3, 2026. (Iran’s Supreme Leader’s Office via AP).
However, the extent of support in Iran for the monarchy or the MKO, the most vocal émigré opposition group, is disputed.
Trump, who bombed Iran last summer and warned Tehran last week that the United States might come to the aid of protesters, said Friday that he would not meet with Pahlavi and that he was “not sure it would be appropriate” to support him.
Germany condemned the violence against protesters, saying the right to demonstrate and assemble must be guaranteed and Iranian media must be able to report freely.
