Iran arrests protest leaders as crackdown intensifies amid menace of US intervention

[ad_1] Iranian authorities have arrested key members of the protest motion that has rocked the country during the last two weeks, the nationwide police chief has mentioned, as Washington and Tehran threaten one another over the prospect of US intervention within the Islamic republic.

“Final evening, important arrests had been manufactured from the principle components within the riots, who, God prepared, can be punished after going by means of authorized procedures,” the police chief, Ahmad-Reza Radan, advised state TV on Sunday, with out specifying the variety of these arrested.

Iran’s lawyer normal had mentioned earlier that those that had been caught protesting, and even serving to protesters, could possibly be charged with being “an enemy of God” – which is punished with the demise penalty.

The protest motion in Iran, now in its second week, is probably the most important unrest the nation has skilled in years. Although triggered initially by a sudden slide within the nation’s foreign money, protesters quickly demanded political reform and referred to as for the downfall of the federal government.

A screengrab from footage circulating on social media from Iran reveals protesters in Tehran. {Photograph}: AP Iran’s regime has weathered mass protest actions earlier than, however analysts say the present unrest is going on as the federal government is weakened by an financial disaster, and within the aftermath of its summer time conflict with Israel.

Authorities cut off internet access within the nation on Thursday, imposing a virtually impenetrable nationwide blackout. Human rights teams mentioned Iranian authorities had used the quilt of the web shutdown to broaden their crackdown towards protesters, utilizing lethal pressure and stay ammunition to disperse demonstrations.

A minimum of 116 folks have been killed in violence surrounding the demonstrations, whereas 2,600 have been arrested, in keeping with the US-based Human Rights Activists Information Company. “Examination of the causes of demise reveals that the majority victims had been killed by stay ammunition or pellet gunfire, predominantly from shut vary,” the rights group mentioned.

<gu-island name="InteractiveBlockComponent" priority="critical" deferuntil="idle" props="{"url":"https://interactive.guim.co.uk/uploader/embed/2026/01/archive-zip/giv-32554Dk5dkk6nUAx9/","scriptUrl":"https://interactive.guim.co.uk/embed/iframe-wrapper/0.1/boot.js","alt":"A map show the size and spread of the protests","format":{"design":0,"display":0,"theme":0},"elementId":"26b5891e-0696-412b-bcca-2e7315a783e4","isMainMedia":false}"> A map show the size and spread of the protests Donald Trump has threatened to intervene in Iran if authorities kill protesters, a menace he appeared to reiterate on Saturday evening.

“Iran is taking a look at FREEDOM, maybe like by no means earlier than. The USA stands prepared to assist!!!,” the US president mentioned on the Reality Social platform. The New York Occasions and Wall Road Journal reported US officers as saying that Trump had been introduced with army choices for a strike on Iran, however had not but selected his plan of action.

US senators echoed Trump’s name, with Sen Lindsey Graham saying on social media that Iranians’ “lengthy nightmare is quickly coming to an in depth”.

Israeli officers mentioned they had been on excessive alert for any US intervention in Iran, with Israeli media reporting that they're remaining silent on the difficulty to keep away from permitting Iranian authorities casting the protest motion as foreign-backed.

Demonstrators rally in London on Sunday in help of protesters in Iran, {Photograph}: Suzanne Plunkett/Reuters The US threats shortly drew a backlash from Iranian officers, with the speaker of the parliament warning that the US and Israel can be “reputable targets” if the US struck Iran.

“Within the occasion of an assault on Iran, each the occupied territory and all American army centres, bases and ships within the area can be our reputable targets,” Mohammad-Bagher Ghalibaf mentioned.

Beforehand, when the US struck Iran’s nuclear enrichment websites in June, Iran carried out a strike on a US army base in Qatar. The strike was seen as principally symbolic because it was telegraphed and didn't result in any deaths amongst US army personnel.

Regardless of the crackdown, protests continued in a single day on Saturday and extra had been anticipated on Sunday. Movies confirmed what seemed to be 1000's of protesters in northern Tehran, banging pots and chanting protest slogans. In Mashhad, the birthplace of Iran’s supreme chief, Ali Khamenei, protesters appeared in movies dealing with off with police, creating roadblocks and lighting fires.

Protesters collect in Mashhad in Iran’s Razavi Khorasan province on this screengrab from social media. {Photograph}: Social Media/Reuters Rights teams have mentioned that whereas correct, exhaustive documentation is near-impossible because of the communications blackout within the nation, there have been growing experiences of hovering demise tolls amongst protesters. The Middle for Human Rights in Iran said on Sunday that it had acquired credible experiences from witnesses that a whole bunch of protesters had been killed in latest days.

Messages and movies trickle out of Iran sporadically, primarily ferried by activists who've Starlink satellite tv for pc web companies.

A protester within the central Iranian metropolis of Sari, in keeping with messages forwarded through the US-based Abdorrahman Boroumand Basis, mentioned safety forces had positioned town underneath full martial legislation.

“Numerous safety forces armed with army weapons have arrange checkpoints. Each automobile is being stopped, even when there are simply two folks inside. They're telling everybody that anybody who's exterior can be shot,” the protester mentioned.

An Iranian activist overseas advised the Guardian their cousin managed to name them through Starlink on Saturday evening in a panic. She was fleeing a protest within the Andarzgoo neighbourhood in Tehran after authorities began utilizing “army weapons” on unarmed protesters, describing safety forces opening fireplace on males, ladies, and youngsters at shut distance.

In movies forwarded to the Guardian, giant crowds will be seen streaming by means of the streets with what seems to be teargas round them. A second video reveals the protester fleeing, with the sound of gunshots heard within the background as she repeats the phrase “shameless”.

A video verified by the Hengaw human rights group reveals a number of our bodies of what the group mentioned had been protesters killed by authorities in a warehouse within the Kahrizak space of Tehran. The organisation mentioned the warehouse was a facility adjoining to a morgue and was getting used as an overflow facility because the morgue was too overcrowded. Iranian state media blamed the demise on protesters.

Iran’s president, Masoud Pezeshkian, who beforehand provided to enter into dialogue with protesters, appeared to undertake a more durable line on Sunday. “Individuals have issues, we should always sit with them and whether it is our responsibility, we should always resolve their issues,” Pezeshkian mentioned. “However the increased responsibility is to not permit a gaggle of rioters to return and destroy the complete society.”

Whereas it faces protests at residence, Iran’s authorities has turn into more and more involved a couple of potential strike from the US or Israel.

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