Iranian government shuts down internet as violent crackdown continues

Protests broke out in several cities across Iran on Thursday, despite a violent crackdown by security forces that left dozens dead and led authorities to cut the internet across the country to try to quell the unrest.

Shops were also closed Thursday in the main bazaar of Tehran, the capital, and in smaller towns, according to a video posted online, as inflation soared and the Iranian currency plummeted against the U.S. dollar this week.

The protests, which started for economic reasons, have now taken on a more political tone with demonstrators chanting slogans against Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, the country’s highest authority, in Tehran and other cities.

NetBlocks, an internet monitoring group, said on

Iran “is currently in the midst of a nationwide internet blackout,” the group said.

Authorities have struggled to contain the protests after 12 days, and top officials have given mixed messages on how to handle the unrest.

President Masoud Pezeshkian offered conciliatory messages and said protesters’ concerns must be addressed, while hardliners issued stern warnings: Iran’s judiciary chief Gholamhossein Mohseni Ejei said Wednesday there would be “no leniency for those who help the enemy against the Islamic Republic.”

Hadi Ghaemi, executive director of the Center for Human Rights in Iran, a New York-based advocacy group, said in a telephone interview: “We know that the president is not really in control of the situation at times like this.

“Security and intelligence forces are going to do what they always do, and they are starting to do it more systematically,” Ghaemi said. “And Ejei made it very clear yesterday that this is the end, the last call, to wrap it up, and they are coming for them.”

Security forces did not hold back, rights groups say. Amnesty International said in a press release Thursday that the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps and police “illegally used rifles, shotguns loaded with metal pellets, water cannons, tear gas and beatings to disperse, intimidate and punish largely peaceful protesters.”

Authorities also tried to cover up the killings, Amnesty said, by forcing the families of some victims to give interviews to state media, blaming accidents or other protesters. The authorities threatened a secret burial if the family members did not comply.

The group added that there had been “massive arbitrary arrests.”

The Hengaw Organization for Human Rights, a Kurdish monitoring group registered in Norway that monitors human rights violations in Iran, reported Thursday that security forces killed 42 people during the protests, including six children.

Violent repression could come at a price. Last week, President Donald Trump threatened to intervene in Iran, without providing details, if more protesters were killed. He reiterated his threat Thursday in an interview on the “Hugh Hewitt Show.”

“I let them know that if they start killing people, which they tend to do in their riots — they have a lot of them — if they do that, we’re going to hit them really hard,” Trump said.

He also added a message for protesters. “You should have freedom at heart. There is no such thing as freedom. You are brave people. It’s a shame what happened to your country. Your country was a great country,” Trump said.

Trump’s warning poses a further challenge to Iranian authorities, who have failed to contain unrest in the streets and have been alarmed by the surprise U.S. capture last weekend of Venezuelan leader Nicolás Maduro, a close ally.

“Trump’s threat puts the system in a bind: If the protests escalate, he could resort to increasing levels of violence to subdue them. But if they resort to greater violence, they run the risk of U.S. involvement,” Ali Vaez, director of the Iran project at the International Crisis Group, said in a text message responding to questions.

Videos released online Thursday showed large gatherings of protesters in the major cities of Tehran, Mashhad — long considered a conservative bastion of government support — and Isfahan, as well as smaller towns like Kermanshah in western Iran, where protesters chanted “Death to the dictator.”

A video verified by NBC News and released Thursday shows a white sedan ramming into a group of security forces walking down a street in Mashhad.

A video published by BBC Persian appears to show security forces shooting at protesters in the western Iranian town of Dezful, while another video verified by NBC News shows a major fire at the offices of state broadcaster, Islamic Republic of Iran Broadcasting, in Isfahan.

For now, neither side is backing down.

“There are still exit paths for reconciliation so that the system can avoid a real bloody revolution,” said Ellie Geranmayeh, policy fellow at the European Council on Foreign Relations, in a telephone interview. “And we might start to see indications and signs of that as the protests enter their third or fourth week. But we’re not there yet.”