Iran protests grow deadlier as regime internet blackout fails to stop uprising

Iran’s nationwide unrest entered its thirteenth day Friday, as authorities imposed a sweeping internet blackout that largely cut the country off from the outside world and escalated threats of harsh punishment while anti-regime protests spread. Iran Human Rights (IHRNGO) reported that at least 51 protesters, including nine children, have been killed, with hundreds more injured. 

At a press conference in Washington, D.C., on Friday, President Donald Trump said Iran was facing mounting pressure as unrest spreads across the country. "Iran’s in big trouble," Trump said. "It looks to me that the people are taking over certain cities that nobody thought were really possible just a few weeks ago. We’re watching the situation very carefully."

Trump warned that the United States would respond forcefully if the regime resorts to mass violence. "We’ll be hitting them very hard where it hurts. And that doesn’t mean boots on the ground, but it means hitting them very, very hard where it hurts."

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Trump said the administration hopes such action will not be necessary. "We don’t want that to happen," he said. "There have been cases like this where President Obama totally backed down, but this is something pretty incredible that’s happening in Iran. It’s an amazing thing to watch."

Trump blamed Iran’s leadership for the unrest, saying the regime had mistreated its people.

"They’ve done a bad job. They’ve treated the people very badly, and now they’re being paid back," he said. "So let’s see what happens. We’ll watch it. We’re watching it very closely."

Banafsheh Zand, an Iranian-American journalist and editor of the Iran So Far Away Substack, said demonstrations were expected to intensify later Friday despite the communications blackout.

"People are going to be pouring out into the streets," Zand told Fox News Digital. She described the unrest as unprecedented in the Islamic Republic’s history.

"Absolutely, this is the first time in 47 years. February 12 will mark 47 years that we have this opportunity," she said. A senior U.S. official told Fox News there had been no change to the U.S. military posture in the Middle East in response to the unrest, adding that U.S. Central Command was closely monitoring developments, particularly around Friday prayers and the regime’s response.

Thirteen days into the protests, the leaders of France, the United Kingdom and Germany issued their first joint declaration on the situation in Iran.

"We are deeply concerned about reports of violence by Iranian security forces and strongly condemn the killing of protesters," the statement said. "The Iranian authorities have the responsibility to protect their own population and must allow for freedom of expression and peaceful assembly without fear of reprisal. We urge the Iranian authorities to exercise restraint, refrain from violence, and uphold the fundamental rights of Iran’s citizens."

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The opposition-linked National Council of Resistance of Iran (NCRI) said Friday that security forces killed a significant number of protesters overnight in several cities, particularly Tehran and Karaj. The group said repression forces opened fire on civilians in the Fardis area of Karaj, leaving at least 10 young people killed or wounded in one incident—claims that could not be independently verified.

The leader of the NCRI, Maryam Rajavi, told Fox News Digital, "The developments of recent months have proven a fundamental truth: although the regime ruling Iran has been severely weakened and has suffered heavy blows, it will not collapse under the weight of its own failures. Its overthrow will not come from outside Iran, nor will it be delivered by the will of foreign capitals. As I have repeatedly emphasized, change can only be achieved by the Iranian people themselves, through an organized and nationwide resistance that is present on the ground — one capable of confronting a ruthless dictatorship."

According to Reuters, Iran was effectively isolated after authorities shut down internet access in an effort to curb the demonstrations, sharply limiting the flow of information out of the country. Phone calls into Iran were failing, and at least 17 flights between Dubai and Iran were canceled, according to Dubai Airport’s website. Videos verified by Reuters showed buildings and vehicles ablaze in several cities as unrest intensified.

Footage verified by Reuters from Tehran showed hundreds of demonstrators marching, with at least one woman heard shouting, "Death to Khamenei!" Other chants included slogans supporting the monarchy.

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In Zahedan, where Iran’s Baluch minority predominates, rights group Hengaw reported that a protest march following Friday prayers had been met with gunfire, wounding several people, according to Reuters.

Iranian state television aired images of clashes and fires, while the semi-official Tasnim news agency reported that several police officers were killed overnight, underscoring the increasingly violent nature of the confrontations.

In a televised address Friday, Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei vowed not to back down. Reuters reported that while the unrest has not yet drawn as broad a cross-section of society as some previous protest waves, Iranian authorities appear more vulnerable due to a dire economic situation and the aftermath of last year’s war with Israel and the United States.

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The protests began late last month with shopkeepers and bazaar merchants demonstrating against accelerating inflation and the collapse of the rial, which lost about half its value against the dollar last year. Inflation topped 40% in December. The unrest soon spread to universities and provincial cities, with young men clashing with security forces.

State television broadcast overnight images of burning buses, cars and motorbikes as well as fires at underground railway stations and banks. In the Caspian Sea port city of Rasht, a state TV journalist standing amid the flames said, "This looks like a war zone – all the shops have been destroyed."

Reuters noted that Iran’s opposition abroad remains fragmented, with disputed levels of support inside the country for figures such as Reza Pahlavi, the exiled son of the late Shah of Iran. Pahlavi urged Iranians to take to the streets in a social media post, while President Donald Trump said Thursday he would not meet Pahlavi and was "not sure that it would be appropriate" to support him," he stated in an interview with Hugh Hewitt.

Despite the unrest, Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araqchi said the likelihood of foreign military intervention was "very low," adding that Oman’s foreign minister would visit Tehran on Saturday, according to Reuters.

The Islamic Republic has weathered repeated waves of nationwide unrest over the decades, including major protests in 1999, 2009, 2019 and 2022. Analysts say the coming days will test whether the current uprising can sustain momentum under intensified repression — or meet a similar fate.

Reuters contributed to this article.