Iranian protesters on Thursday stepped up their challenge to the clerical leadership with the biggest protests yet of nearly two weeks of rallies, as authorities cut internet access and the death toll from a crackdown mounted.
The movement, which originated with a shutdown on the Tehran bazaar on December 28 after the rial currency plunged to record lows, has spread nationwide and is now being marked by larger-scale demonstrations, including in the capital.
The protests have troubled the authorities under Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, already battling an economic crisis after years of sanctions and recovering from the June war against Israel.
US President Donald Trump meanwhile threatened on Thursday to take severe action against Iran if its authorities "start killing people", warning Washington would "hit them very hard".
That message came after rights groups accused Iranian security forces of shooting at demonstrators, with the Norway-based NGO Iran Human Rights on Thursday saying security forces had killed at least 45 protesters, including eight minors, since the demonstrations began.
The NGO said Wednesday was the bloodiest day of demonstrations, with 13 protesters confirmed to have been killed.
"The evidence shows that the scope of the crackdown is becoming more violent and more extensive every day," said IHR director Mahmood Amiry-Moghaddam, adding that hundreds more have been wounded and more than 2,000 arrested.
Iranian media and official statements have reported at least 21 people, including security forces, killed since the unrest began, according to an AFP tally.
On Wednesday an Iranian police officer was killed west of Tehran trying "to control unrest", the Fars news agency said.
Despite the crackdown, protests were again taking place into the night Thursday.
A large crowd was seen gathering on the vast Ayatollah Kashani Boulevard in the northwest of Tehran, according to social media images verified by AFP, while other images showed a crowd demonstrating in the western city of Abadan.
As protests roiled cities across the country, online watchdog Netblocks said Thursday that "live metrics show Iran is now in the midst of a nationwide internet blackout".
- 'Utmost restraint' -
With the protests now spreading across Iran, the US-based Human Rights Activists News Agency said rallies had taken place in 348 locations in all of Iran's 31 provinces.
Reza Pahlavi, the son of the shah ousted by the 1979 Islamic revolution and a key exiled opposition figure, urged more major protests on Thursday.
Iraq-based Iranian Kurdish opposition parties called for a general strike on Thursday in Kurdish-populated areas in western Iran.
The Hengaw rights group said the call had been widely followed in some 30 towns and cities, posting footage of shuttered shops in the western provinces of Ilam, Kermanshah and Lorestan.
It accused authorities of firing on demonstrators in Kermanshah and the nearby town of Kamyaran to the north, injuring several protesters.
IHR said a woman at a protest late Wednesday in Abadan was shot directly in the eye.
Iran's President Masoud Pezeshkian on Thursday called for "utmost restraint" in handling demonstrations, saying that "any violent or coercive behaviour should be avoided".
German Foreign Minister Johann Wadephul, meanwhile, condemned the "excessive use of force" against protesters.
In a video verified by AFP, protesters in Kuhchenar in the southern Fars province were seen cheering overnight as they pulled down a statue of the former foreign operations commander of the Revolutionary Guards, Qassem Soleimani, who was killed in a US strike in January 2020.
- 'Unlawful force' -
Demonstrators are repeating slogans against the clerical leadership, including "Pahlavi will return" and "Seyyed Ali will be toppled", in reference to Khamenei.
The movement has also spread to higher education, with final exams Tehran's major Amir Kabir university postponed for a week, according to ISNA news agency.
The protests are the biggest in Iran since the protest wave in 2022-2023 sparked by the custody death of Mahsa Amini, who had been arrested for allegedly violating the strict dress code for women.
Rights groups have also accused authorities of resorting to tactics including raiding hospitals to detain wounded protesters.
"Iran's security forces have injured and killed both protesters and bystanders," said Amnesty International, accusing authorities of using "unlawful force".
