Unrest In Iran Grows Despite Moves By Authorities To Stifle Dissent

Iran is seeing a 13th night of protests despite a brutal crackdown and threats by the authorities to punish "rioters" demanding an end to the Islamic republic.

Videos from social media and those sent to RFE/RL's Radio Farda on the evening of January 9 are showing crowds massing in various parts of the capital, Tehran, and in the major cities of Shiraz and Mashhad. Earlier in the day, protests reached the southeastern city of Zahedan, where Sunni Baluch worshippers took to the streets after Friday prayers.

Speaking at a meeting with oil and gas executives at the White House on the same day, US President Donald Trump said that "Iran is in big trouble. 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. I've made the statement very strongly that if they start killing people like they have in the past, we will get involved. We will be hitting them very hard where it hurts. That does not mean boots on the ground, but it does mean hitting them very, very hard where it hurts."

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More Scenes Of Tehran Unrest Leak Through Internet Blackout

Brutal Crackdowns

The protests have grown to their biggest in several years as crowds flooded streets in major cities, small towns, and neighborhoods across Tehran late on January 8.

Raw footage from January 8 shows brutal crackdowns, but also protesters adopting bolder tactics: direct clashes with security forces and torching police and Basij paramilitary outposts.

"The crowd that was there will not not give in," one protester in Mashad in northeast Iran told RFE/RL's Radio Farda.

"Young and old had come out to protest, some elderly people could hardly walk but they were protesting. There was an old man who kept cursing at [Iran's Supreme Leader Ali] Khamenei. We're tired of the high prices, the [forced] hijab and everything else. It's not just one or two things, we want the establishment to change (regime change) and the return of the shah."

Iran's Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei addressed supporters of the regime on January 9, saying that "saboteurs, agitators" had "destroyed the country's buildings to please" President Trump.

He added that Trump has the "blood of Iranians on his hands" following US strikes on Iran in June, and that the US leader would be "overthrown."

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Huge Protests Spread Across Iran, Khamenei Remains Defiant Amid Internet Blackout

After his speech, pro-Islamic republic rallies were held in several cities after Friday prayers with heavy state media coverage. Antiestablishment protests are expected to resume at dusk.

Tehran's prosecutor Ali Salehi described protesters who burn public property and clash with security forces as "terrorists" who will be charged with "moharebeh," or waging war against God, which can carry the death penalty.

Several security bodies in separate statements also warned protesters on January 9.

The Intelligence Organization of the Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps (IRGC) said the "continuation of the situation is unacceptable" and repeated the claim that the protests are instigated by foreign backers.

On January 2, Trump said Washington would intervene in Iran if it kills protesters, stating in a Truth Social post: "We are locked and loaded and ready to go."

He reiterated that stance late on January 8, saying in an interview with conservative radio host Hugh Hewitt that Iranian authorities have been told "very strongly -- even more strongly than I’m speaking to you right now -- that if they do that [kill protesters], they’re going to have to pay hell.”

The law enforcement force, meanwhile, issued a statement telling people to "protect your teenager" from being swept up in the unrest in view of the police's "no leniency" policy toward "rioters."

Iranian media report that several members of security forces were killed in the unrest on January 8, including in Tehran and Marvdasht. A prosecutor and his bodyguards were also killed in the town of Esfarayen, North Khorasan Province.

Norway-based Iran Human Rights has said that 51 protesters have been killed as of January 9, with over 2,000 arrests. Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch, in a joint January 8 statement, accused Iranian forces of "unlawful use of force and firearms and mass arbitrary arrests."

UN human rights chief Volker Turk said in a statement on January 9 he was "deeply disturbed" by reports of the violence and called for all deaths to be "promptly, independently, and transparently investigated."

"Those responsible for any violations must be held to account in line with international norms and standards," he added.

This round of protests, which began on December 28, 2025, in Tehran's Grand Bazaar, quickly snowballed, spreading to dozens of towns. By the evening of January 8, videos poured in from nearly every corner of the country showing huge crowds chanting and marching.

Authorities first throttled nationwide Internet speeds before enforcing a near-total blackout at 10:15 p.m. local time on January 8, severing phone lines too.

News from inside is trickling out slowly amid the communications blackout, but US and European leaders have ramped up their focus on the chaos.