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Iran has been almost completely cut off from the internet as the Islamic republic struggles to quell protests across the country, which have escalated overnight.
Videos posted on social media reportedly showed huge crowds of protesters taking to the streets in Tehran and other cities on Thursday evening, as protests in Iran appeared to gain momentum at the start of the weekend.
Analysts said the unrest posed the biggest domestic threat to the Islamic regime in years.
“We are seeing the system struggling to respond to a significant wave of protests that have been gathering momentum since it began,” said Sanam Vakil, head of the Middle East program at Chatham House. “Without significant structural changes they (the regime) will be at a dead end.”
NetBlocks, an internet monitor, said Iran was “in the midst of a nationwide internet blackout” following “a series of escalating digital censorship measures targeting protests across the country”.
It was not possible to independently verify the videos posted on social media. Iranian news websites remained largely closed due to the internet outage and messaging apps were also not working.
State-owned Press TV said on its website that Iranian authorities “have moved to counter a coordinated digital warfare campaign fueled by disinformation”.
It said the foreign-linked operatives were arrested “amid a wave of foreign-backed riots”, with dozens of people arrested in Tehran and other cities. It said at least four policemen were killed in separate incidents on Wednesday and Thursday.
Internet access has been restricted before during periods of unrest.
The latest demonstrations began in late December, when shopkeepers in Tehran closed their shops in protest against rising prices, and have since spread to provincial cities and towns across the country.
They come at a time when the Islamic Republic is in its weakest position in decades as it grapples with growing external and domestic pressures.
The rial has lost more than 40 percent of its value since Israel launched a 12-day war against Iran in June, killing top military commanders and nuclear scientists, destroying most of its air defenses and bombing its nuclear facilities, causing inflation.
The US briefly joined the war to bomb Iran’s main nuclear facilities, and President Donald Trump warned that his administration was “locked and loaded” and prepared to come to their “rescue” if Iranian authorities kill protesters.
Trump repeated his threat in an interview with talk show host Hugh Hewitt that aired Thursday.
“Iran has been told very strongly, more strongly than I am speaking to you right now, that if they do this, they will pay dearly,” Trump said.
Iranian state media have confirmed at least 17 deaths, some of whom were members of security forces, since the protests began last month, as well as dozens of arrests, although the exact number is unclear.
Foreign-based group Human Rights Activist News Agency said the death toll had reached 42, including eight security personnel or officials.
The Eurasia Group said in a note that the regime “is likely to face the current bout of unrest – as it has in the past”.
But it also said that “With no measures to address the underlying causes, it is likely that demonstrations will continue, with significant risk that unrest will escalate to the extent that more violent action may occur”.
The protests are the most serious domestic threat to the regime since 2022, when a woman named Mahsa Amini was arrested for allegedly improperly wearing a hijab and died in custody.
According to Amnesty International, more than 300 people were killed during the crackdown on those demonstrations.
The current wave of protests includes angry anti-regime chants, including chants of “Death to the dictator” in reference to Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.
They have become a key test for President Massoud Pezeshkian, who came to power nearly 18 months ago vowing to reform the economy and make life easier for ordinary Iranians.
Pezeshkian’s government has taken steps to calm protesters, meeting with business leaders over their concerns and appointing a new central bank governor to try to restore “economic stability.”
But many Iranians are increasingly frustrated and angry and increasingly demanding change from a religious leadership that has few tools available to manage the crisis given the country’s economic collapse and low oil prices.
Oil prices rose on Friday. Brent crude futures, the international oil benchmark, rose 1 percent to $62.61 a barrel. West Texas Intermediate, the U.S. benchmark, rose 1 percent to $58.34 a barrel.
Additional reporting by William Sandlund in Hong Kong
