By Katherine Donlevy
Secretary of State Marco Rubio backed the “brave people of Iran” Saturday, while protesters calling for regime change continue to burn Tehran — as fears mount that the death toll has climbed to more than 200.
At least 65 people, including 50 protesters and 15 security personnel, have been killed as of Jan. 9, according to the Iranian rights group HRANA, although the true toll could be much higher.
A doctor told TIME that at least 217 protester deaths have been recorded across just six hospitals in Tehran — “most by live ammunition.”
Meanwhile, the Islamic Republic’s supreme leader placed the country’s security services on its highest alert Saturday.
Ayatollah Ali Khamenei ordered the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps to activate “missile cities,” or giant underground caches of ballistic weapons, sources told The Telegraph.
“The IRGC’s underground missile cities – which were deliberately kept intact during the 12-day war – are all on high alert,” the insider said, adding that any intervention by the US could trigger an “apocalyptic” war.
The IRGC warned the public Saturday that safeguarding security was a “red line,” and the military vowed to protect public property.
Iranian officials described the rioters as “terrorists” who were targeting military and law enforcement bases over the past two nights, killing several citizens and security personnel and igniting personal property.
Overnight Friday, a municipal building in Karaj, west of Tehran, was torched.
Protests also continued in the cities of Shiraz, Qom and Hamedan.
The military’s warning comes after President Trump issued support for the people of Iran and a warning to Tehran Friday.
“You better not start shooting because we’ll start shooting too,” Trump said. “I just hope the protesters in Iran are going to be safe, because that’s a very dangerous place right now.”
Rubio took to Twitter early Saturday morning to show his support to the protestors.
“The United States supports the brave people of Iran, he posted to X.
The nation has been under a blackout since Iranian authorities cut off internet access and international telephone communications Thursday.
By Reuters
Iran’s authorities indicated on Saturday they could intensify their crackdown on the biggest anti-government demonstrations in years, with the Revolutionary Guards blaming unrest on terrorists and vowing to safeguard the governing system.
A day after U.S. President Donald Trump issued a new warning that the United States could intervene, there were fresh reports of violence across the country, although an internet blackout made it difficult to assess the full extent of unrest.
The exiled son of Iran’s last shah, 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.
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.
Footage on social media on Friday showed large crowds gathered in Tehran and fires lit in the street at night. Reuters was able to confirm the location by comparing landmarks with satellite imagery.
Protests have spread across Iran since December 28, beginning in response to soaring inflation, and quickly turning political with protesters demanding an end to clerical rule. Authorities accuse the U.S. and Israel of fomenting unrest.
Iranian rights group HRANA says at least 50 protesters and 15 security personnel have been killed, and some 2,300 arrested.
ARMY SAYS ‘TERRORIST GROUPS’ SEEK TO UNDERMINE SECURITY
A witness in western Iran reached by phone said the Revolutionary Guards (IRGC) were deployed and opening fire in the area from which the witness was speaking, declining to be identified for safety.
The semi-official Tasnim news agency reported the arrest of 100 “armed rioters” in the town of Baharestan near Tehran.
In a statement broadcast by state TV, the IRGC – an elite force which has suppressed previous bouts of unrest – accused “terrorists” of targeting military and law enforcement bases over the past two nights. It said several citizens and security personnel had been killed and public and private property set on fire.
Safeguarding the achievements of the Islamic revolution and maintaining security was a “red line,” it added.
The regular military also issued a statement saying it would “protect and safeguard national interests, the country’s strategic infrastructure, and public property.”
PAHLAVI SAYS GOAL IS TO PREPARE TO ‘SEIZE CITY CENTRES’
In a video posted on X, U.S.-based Reza Pahlavi, 65, whose father was toppled as Iran’s shah in the 1979 revolution, said the Islamic Republic would be brought “to its knees.” He called for people to seize the centres of their towns, and said he was preparing to return soon to Iran.
“Our goal is no longer merely to come into the streets; the goal is to prepare to seize city centres and hold them,” he said.
Trump said on Thursday he was not inclined to meet Pahlavi, a sign that he was waiting to see how the crisis plays out before backing an opposition leader.
Iran’s rulers have weathered repeated bouts of unrest, including student protests in 1999, 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.
Trump, who joined Israel to strike Iran’s nuclear sites last summer, warned Tehran last week the U.S. could come to the protesters’ aid. On Friday, he said: “You better not start shooting because we’ll start shooting too.”
“I just hope the protesters in Iran are going to be safe, because that’s a very dangerous place right now,” he added.
He has repeatedly included Iran in lists of places where he could intervene next, after sending forces to seize the president of Venezuela a week ago.
By Nicholas Ballasy
Nationwide demonstrations in Iran have entered their second week, with protesters taking to the streets despite increasing government warnings of a harsher response and widespread efforts to curb communication.
The death toll is at least 65, according to reports from inside Iran.
The unrest against Iran’s regime has spread from Tehran’s historic Grand Bazaar into cities and towns across all 31 provinces.
Iranian authorities have cut access to the internet and international phone services, a move aimed at stifling coordination among demonstrators and limiting reporting on the ground.
Despite these restrictions, crowds continued to gather on Friday night in cities ranging from the capital Tehran to provincial centers, demonstrating against soaring inflation, currency collapse and the high cost of living.
Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, who has ruled Iran since 1989, has publicly denounced what he called “vandals” and “saboteurs,” signaling that security forces could adopt stricter measures against protesters.
Ed Morrissey
The murderous terror regime of the Islamic Republic of Iran will go down as one of the bloodiest in post-World War II history. And it will go down exactly how it existed in its 47-year history, unfortunately – slaughtering Iranians in a desperate attempt to cling to power.
After nearly two weeks of ever-expanding protests over the collapse of the rial and oppression of the populace, the regime turned its guns on the people. The BBC reports this morning that victims of government snipers and mass shootings have overwhelmed hospitals in Tehran and elsewhere:
As protests in Iran continue and Iranian authorities issued coordinated warnings to protesters, a doctor and medic at two hospitals told the BBC their facilities were overwhelmed with injuries.
One doctor said a Tehran eye hospital had gone into crisis mode, while the BBC also obtained a message from a medic in another hospital saying it did not have enough surgeons to cope with the influx of patients. …
The BBC also obtained a video and audio message from a medic in a hospital in the south-west city of Shiraz on Thursday. The medic said large numbers of injured people were being brought in, and the hospital did not have enough surgeons to cope with the influx. He claimed many of the wounded had gunshot injuries to the head and eyes.
A health worker at another hospital in Tehran also told the BBC that their patients included gunshot wound victims.
The French news outlet i24 and TIME Magazine report that over 200 people have been killed, mainly from gunshot wounds. The regime calls those killed “terrorists,” apparently unaware of irony, but it has hardened opposition on the streets rather than quell it:
Protests against the Islamic regime in Iran continued early Saturday morning, amid a reported deadly crackdown on demonstrators. TIME magazine cited a Tehran doctor speaking on condition of anonymity that just six hospitals in the capital recorded at least 217 killed protesters, “most by live ammunition.” …
State media later referred to the demonstrators as “terrorists,” setting the stage for a violent crackdown as in other protests in recent years.
Protesters are “ruining their own streets … in order to please the president of the United States,” Khamenei said. “Because he said that he would come to their aid. He should pay attention to the state of his own country instead.”
Unfortunately for Ali Khamenei, Donald Trump has a knack for multitasking, as Nicolas Maduro belatedly discovered. Khamenei won’t get Maduroed out of Tehran, as such an operation would be logistically improbable, if not entirely impossible. Trump has stepped carefully on the issue of regime change in Iran, demanding liberation for its people but remaining silent on specifics about how that process should unfold.
In the last few days, the son of the last Shah of Iran has emerged again as a potential option, and some reports say demonstrators in Iran have called for the restoration of the monarchy. The Wall Street Journal reports that Trump has kept his distance from Reza Pahlavi, however, and that Pahlavi has not had much success in building the necessary political support:
Islam the so called Religion of Peace?! That’s a sick joke all right