Iran cut off from world as supreme leader warns protesters

[DUBAI] Iran was largely cut off from the outside world on Friday (Jan 9) after authorities blacked out the Internet to curb expanding protests, with phone calls not reaching the country, flights cancelled and online Iranian news sites only intermittently updating.

Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei accused protesters of acting on behalf of US President Donald Trump, saying rioters were attacking public properties and warning that Teheran would not tolerate people acting as “mercenaries for foreigners”.

The protests that began over soaring inflation in the Islamic Republic late last month have spiralled into the biggest in three years, with unrest reported in every province and rights groups documenting dozens of deaths.

Images of fires raging in Iranian cities

Iran’s fragmented external opposition factions called for more protests on Friday, with Reza Pahlavi, exiled son of the late ruling shah, telling Iranians in a social media post: “The eyes of the world are upon you. Take to the streets.”

Trump, who bombed Iran last summer and who last week warned Teheran it could come to the protesters’ aid, said on Friday he would not meet Pahlavi and was “not sure that it would be appropriate” to back him.

The images published by state television overnight showed what it said were burning buses, cars and motorbikes as well as fires at metro stations and banks. It accused the People’s Mojahedin Organization, an opposition faction that splintered off after the 1979 Islamic Revolution and also known as the MKO, of being behind the unrest.

A state television journalist standing in front of the fires on Shariati Street in the Caspian Sea port of Rasht said “this looks like a war zone – all the shops have been destroyed”.

Iran has quelled far bigger bouts of unrest before, but it now faces a graver economic situation and intensifying international pressure, with global sanctions over its nuclear programme re-imposed since September.

A French diplomatic source on Friday said Iran should show maximum restraint towards protesters.

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The protests have not yet approached the scale of nationwide demonstrations in late 2022 over women’s rights following the death in custody of a Kurdish woman, Mahsa Amini, but they pose the biggest internal challenge to the authorities since then.

The authorities have attempted a dual approach – describing protests over the economy as legitimate, while condemning what they call violent rioters and cracking down with security forces.

Khamenei addresses Trump

“Last night in Teheran, a bunch of vandals and rioters came and destroyed a building that belonged to the state, to the people themselves, just to please the heart of the president of the US,” Khamenei said, urging Trump to “manage your own country”.

While the initial protests were focused on the economy, with the rial currency losing half its value against the US dollar last year and inflation topping 40 per cent in December, they have morphed to include slogans directly against the authorities.

Protesters have chanted slogans including “Death to the dictator” and praising the former monarchy that was toppled in 1979. The extent of support inside Iran for the monarchy or for the MKO, the most vocal groups among emigre Iranians, is disputed.

Most of the demonstrators seen in videos viewed by Reuters, many of which it has been unable to verify, have been young men.

Iran blocked off the Internet overnight. Reuters reporters trying to place phone calls to Iran from abroad were unable to do so on Friday.

At least six flights between Dubai and Iranian cities scheduled for Friday were cancelled, the Dubai airport website showed. REUTERS