Iranian protesters defy crackdown as videos show violent clashes

Protesters in Iran defied a deadly government crackdown on Saturday night, taking to the streets despite reports suggesting hundreds of people have been killed or injured by security forces over the past three days.

Verified videos and eyewitness accounts seen by the BBC appear to show the government is escalating its response, as it continues a widespread internet blackout.

The country’s attorney general, Mohammad Movahedi Azad, said on Saturday that anyone protesting would be considered an “enemy of God”, an offense punishable by death.

Hundreds of demonstrators have reportedly been arrested since the protests began more than two weeks ago.

The protests were sparked by soaring inflation and have spread to more than 100 cities and towns across all provinces of Iran. Protesters are now demanding an end to the religious rule of Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.

Khamenei called the protesters a “band of vandals” seeking to “please” US President Donald Trump.

The Iranian government imposed an internet shutdown in an attempt to put an end to the protests. Iran’s data infrastructure is tightly controlled by state and security authorities. Internet access is largely limited to a national intranet, with restricted links to the outside world.

Over the past few years, the government has gradually restricted access to the global Internet. However, during the current wave of protests, authorities have, for the first time, not only shut down access to the global Internet, but also severely restricted the national intranet.

An expert told the Persian BBC that the current closure is more severe than that imposed during the Women, Life, Freedom uprising three years ago. Internet researcher Alireza Manafi said access to the Internet in Iran in any form was now “almost completely disrupted.”

He added that the only likely way to connect to the outside world was through Starlink, but warned users to exercise caution as such connections could potentially be traced by the government.

The BBC and most other international news organizations are also unable to report on Iran, making it difficult to obtain and verify information.

Nonetheless, video footage was released and the BBC spoke to people on the ground.

Verified video from Saturday evening shows protesters taking over the streets of Tehran’s Gisha neighborhood. Several videos, verified and confirmed as recent by BBC Verify, show clashes between protesters and security forces on Vakil Abad Boulevard in Mashhad, Iran’s second largest city.

Masked protesters are seen hiding behind wheelie bins and bonfires, while a line of security forces is visible in the distance. A vehicle that looks like a bus is engulfed in flames.

Several gunshots and what sounds like banging on pots and pans can be heard as a green laser beam lights up the scene.

A figure standing on a nearby walkway is visible in the footage and appears to fire multiple shots in multiple directions as a few people hide behind a fence on the side of the boulevard.

Other videos also emerged from the capital Tehran. A video, authenticated by BBC Verify, shows a large group of protesters and sounds of banging pots and pans in Punak Square, west of Tehran, which has been one of the hotspots of protests this week.

Another clip, filmed in the Heravi district, northeast of Tehran and confirmed by BBC Persian and BBC Verify, shows a crowd of protesters marching on a road and calling for an end to the religious establishment.

On Saturday, Trump wrote on social media: “Iran is looking towards FREEDOM, perhaps like never before. The United States stands ready to help!!!”

He did not give further details, but US media reported that Trump had been briefed on options for military strikes in the country. The New York Times and Wall Street Journal (WSJ) reported that the briefings took place, with the Journal calling them “preliminary discussions.” An anonymous official told the WSJ that there was no “imminent threat” to Iran, the newspaper wrote.

Last year, the United States carried out airstrikes against Iranian nuclear facilities.

U.S. Senator Lindsey Graham has repeatedly posted his support for the protests on social media, writing: “To the people of Iran: your long nightmare is soon coming to an end. »

Their “courage and determination to end your oppression” was “noticed” by the US president, he said. “Help is on the way,” he added in the same message.

Earlier, he said: “To the leaders of the regime: your brutality against the great people of Iran will not go unchallenged. »

As dawn broke on Sunday in Iran, Reza Pahlavi, the exiled son of the last shah (king) of Iranwhose return the demonstrators were demanding, posted a video on X.

His caption read: “Know that you are not alone. Your compatriots around the world proudly shout your voice… In particular, President Trump, as the leader of the free world, has carefully observed your indescribable courage and announced his readiness to help you.”

He added: “I know I will be by your side soon.”

US-based Pahlavi called on people to take to the streets and said he was preparing to return to the country.

He said the Islamic Republic was facing a “serious shortage of mercenaries” and that “many armed and security forces have left their workplaces or disobeyed orders to suppress the population.” The BBC was unable to verify these claims.

Pahlavi encouraged people to continue protesting Sunday evening, but to stay in groups or with crowds and not “put their lives in danger.”

Amnesty International said it had been analyzing “alarming reports since Thursday that security forces have intensified their unlawful use of lethal force against protesters.”

British Foreign Secretary Yvette Cooper said those who speak out against Khamenei’s government should not face “threats of violence or reprisals.”

Since Friday evening, staff at three hospitals have told the BBC they had been overwhelmed with victims. The BBC Persian Service verified that 70 bodies were taken to a single hospital in the city of Rasht on Friday evening.

The Persian BBC confirmed the identities of 26 people killed, including six children. Members of the security forces were also killed, with a human rights group putting the number at 14.

A worker at a Tehran hospital described “very horrific scenes”, saying there were so many injured that staff did not have time to perform CPR and morgues did not have enough space to store the bodies of the dead.

“About 38 people died. Many as soon as they reached the emergency beds… direct shots were fired at the heads of the young people, but also at their hearts. Many of them did not even make it to the hospital.”

Hospital staff said the dead or injured were young people. “I couldn’t look at many of them, they were between 20 and 25 years old.”

These protests are the most widespread since the 2022 uprising sparked by the death in custody of Mahsa Amini, a young Kurdish woman arrested by morality police for allegedly not wearing her hijab properly.

More than 550 people were killed and 20,000 detained by security forces for several months, according to human rights groups.

Additional reporting by Soroush Pakzad and Roja Assadi