Iran Unrest Enters Second Week With Blackout and Rising Death Toll

Overview

• Nationwide demonstrations continued Friday despite a near-total internet shutdown that NetBlocks measured at roughly 1% of normal connectivity for over 24–36 hours.
• Verified footage showed large crowds in Tehran and in cities such as Mashhad, Tabriz and Qom chanting against Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei and calling for an end to clerical rule.
• Iran Human Rights reported at least 45–51 protesters killed, including children, while HRANA cited about 50 protesters and 15 security personnel dead and more than 2,300 arrests, as doctors described hospitals overwhelmed with gunshot injuries to heads and eyes.
• The army and the IRGC pledged to protect infrastructure and warned the unrest is unacceptable, as judicial authorities promised decisive punishment, while exiled opposition figure Reza Pahlavi urged supporters to take and hold city centers and begin a general strike.
• Iran’s UN envoy blamed the United States and Israel for fomenting violence, President Trump threatened a forceful response to lethal repression, a U.S. spokesman dismissed Tehran’s claims as delusional, and leaders of France, Germany and the UK condemned the killing of demonstrators.