Overview
- Internet monitoring groups reported a nationwide shutdown of online access and international calls, leaving Iran largely cut off and making it difficult to verify the full scale of events.
- Rights groups say at least 62 people have been killed and more than 2,200 detained as demonstrations expanded to all 31 provinces over nearly two weeks.
- In his first public comments on the unrest, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei accused protesters of trying to please President Donald Trump and echoed state media claims that US and Israeli 'agents' were behind violence.
- The judiciary escalated its warnings, with Tehran prosecutor Ali Salehi saying some cases could be charged as moharebeh, a capital offense, as judiciary chief Gholamhossein Mohseni-Ejei pledged maximum punishment.
- Exiled crown prince Reza Pahlavi’s call for synchronized 8 p.m. protests drew coordinated chants despite the blackout, while President Trump warned the US would hit Iran 'very hard' if security forces kill demonstrators and flights to Iran were canceled.