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Iranian authorities have indicated 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 US 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 television aired scenes from funerals for security personnel reportedly killed during protests in the Iranian cities of Shiraz, Qom, and Hamedan.
Footage posted on social media showed large crowds gathered in Tehran and fires lit in the street at night.
In a video showing a night-time protest in Tehran’s Saadatabad district, a man is heard saying the crowd had taken over the area.
“The crowd is coming. ‘Death to the dictator’, ‘Death to Khamenei’,” he said, referring to Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.
Reuters confirmed the authenticity and locations of these video clips.
Protests have spread across Iran since 28 December, beginning in response to soaring inflation and quickly turning political with protesters demanding an end to clerical rule.
Authorities accuse the US and Israel of fomenting unrest.
Iranian rights group HRANA says at least 50 protesters and 15 security personnel have been killed, and 2,300 arrested.
A witness from western Iran, speaking via phone, reported that the Revolutionary Guards (IRGC) were present and firing in their vicinity. The witness requested anonymity for personal safety.
The Tasnim news agency reported the arrest of 100 “armed rioters” in the town of Baharestan near Tehran.
The IRGC’s intelligence wing said it had arrested a foreigner suspected of spying for Israel, the news agency reported on Saturday.
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.
Reports indicated casualties among both civilians and security forces, along with incidents of both public and private property being set ablaze.
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”.
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.
A doctor in northwestern Iran noted that hospitals had received a substantial influx of injured protesters since Friday.
Some were badly beaten, suffering head injuries and broken legs and arms, as well as deep cuts.
At least 20 people in one hospital had been shot with live ammunition, five of whom later died.
The IRGC’s public relations office said three members of the Basij security force were killed and five wounded during clashes with what it described as “armed rioters” in Gachsaran, in the southwest.
Another security officer was stabbed to death in Hamedan, in western Iran.
The son of a senior officer, the late brigadier general Nourali Shoushtari, was killed in the Ahmadabad area of Mashhad, in the northeast.
Two other security personnel were killed over the past two nights in Shushtar, in Khuzestan province.
Authorities have described protests over the economy as legitimate while condemning what they call violent rioters over the past two weeks.
