Overview
- Large crowds returned to streets in Tehran, Mashhad and other cities for a second consecutive night, with activist videos showing tear gas deployed and vehicles set ablaze.
- Network monitors NetBlocks and Cloudflare reported a near-complete nationwide collapse of internet connectivity, and many phone lines were unreachable.
- Casualty figures remain contested, with Iran Human Rights reporting at least 45 to 51 dead and authorities citing 21 deaths including security personnel, while a Tehran doctor told Time that more than 200 deaths were recorded across six hospitals, a claim that could not be independently verified.
- Iran’s leadership signaled a hard line as Ayatollah Ali Khamenei denounced the unrest and the judiciary warned of maximum punishment; Tehran’s mayor said scores of banks and more than 30 mosques were set on fire.
- The surge in demonstrations followed calls by exiled opposition figure Reza Pahlavi for evening rallies, and international pressure grew as President Donald Trump warned Tehran against killing protesters and leaders of Germany, France and the UK urged restraint.