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Donald Trump has warned Iran that the US is “ready to help” protesters in the Islamic Republic on a day the country’s clerical regime tightened its clampdown on demonstrations, with claims that 100 “armed rioters” were arrested.
More than 100 people are feared to have been killed in the protests, which have swept across the country after starting two weeks ago.
On Saturday, following a night of protest in several cities, including the capital Tehran, the Iranian attorney general warned that anyone taking part would be considered an “enemy of God”, a sentence that carries the death penalty.
On the same day, the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps also accused “terrorists” of targeting military and law enforcement bases, while the country’s army said it would join the crackdown to “firmly safeguard national interests”.
Iranian media reported that 100 “armed rioters” had been arrested.
However, on Saturday night, Iranian protesters returned to the streets, according to US-based Human Rights Activists News Agency, which described the gatherings as “scattered, short-lived and fluid” due to the threat from security forces.
Despite the internet being down and phone lines cut off in the country, the organisation claims to have confirmed 116 people killed in the protests, including seven aged under 18. More than 2,638 people have been arrested, including 327 on Saturday, the group added.
On Saturday evening, Mr Trump offered support for the protesters, saying on social media that “Iran is looking at FREEDOM, perhaps like never before. The USA stands ready to help!!!”
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The supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei (AP)
Earlier in the day, US secretary of state Marco Rubio wrote on the social platform X: “The United States supports the brave people of Iran.”
It was Mr Trump’s second threat against Tehran – on Friday he said if Iran’s regime “violently kills peaceful protesters” the US “will come to their rescue”. On Saturday, The Wall Street Journal reported that officials from Mr Trump’s administration had had preliminary discussions on how to carry out an attack on Iran, if required.
According to the National Council of Resistance of Iran, cities across Iran had witnessed widespread demonstrations and confrontations on Friday. Footage posted on social media showed large crowds gathered in Tehran and fires lit in the street at night.
State media said a municipal building was set on fire in Karaj, west of Tehran, and blamed “rioters”. State TV broadcast footage of funerals of members of the security forces it said were killed in protests in the cities of Shiraz, Qom and Hamedan.
Meanwhile, a doctor in northwestern Iran said that since Friday large numbers of injured protesters had been brought to hospitals. Some were badly beaten, suffering head injuries and broken legs and arms, as well as deep cuts.
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Anti-government protests in Tehran on Friday (Reuters)
Iranian state TV has also reported security force casualties while portraying control over the nation.
On Saturday, dozens of people were accused of disrupting public order and using firearms and other weapons against security forces and law enforcement, according to the governor of Baharestan, in Tehran province.
The exiled son of Iran’s last shah, Reza Pahlavi, who has emerged as a prominent voice in the fragmented opposition, made his strongest call yet for the protests to broaden into a revolt to topple the clerical rulers.
In a video posted on X, US-based Mr Pahlavi, 65, whose father was toppled as Iran’s shah in the 1979 revolution, said the Islamic Republic would be brought “to its knees”.
Iran’s rulers have weathered repeated bouts of unrest, including student protests in 1999, conflict over a disputed election in 2009, against economic hardships in 2019, and in 2022 over the death in custody of a woman accused of violating dress codes.
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Members of the Iranian community filled the road opposite the Iranian Embassy in London on Saturday (Photo by Amanda Rose / Avalon)
Also on Saturday, demonstrations in solidarity with the protesters took place across the world, including in London, where a protester climbed onto the balcony of the Iranian embassy.
Foreign secretary Yvette Cooper said those speaking out against the Iranian government should not face “the threat of violence or reprisals”. She said: “It takes real courage to speak up in an authoritarian system, especially for young women, but it should not require courage just to make your voice heard.
“These are fundamental rights: free speech; peaceful assembly; and the exercise of those rights should never come with the threat of violence or reprisals. That is why the UK, France and Germany made the statement we did, and we urge the Iranian authorities to listen.”