Iran gripped by protests, dozens killed, entirely offline
Well over a million people took to the streets in Iran on the evening of January 8, with at least 50 killed by the state security services, as the country teeters on the edge of a full-blown revolution to topple the Islamic Republic.
At the time of writing, the country remains disconnected and on the edge. The authorities have reportedly used live rounds on the crowds, according to human rights groups.
Shots were reportedly fired in Tehran, and a reported 50 were killed in the town of Fardis, according to online groups.
Some fifty anti-regime protestors were reportedly gunned down after security forces opened up on a crowd in the city of Fardis using a heavy machine gun mounted on the back of a Toyota truck. The report is unconfirmed, but the video shared widely on social media appears to show a street strewn with corpses of young protestors.
Prior to the January 8/9 demonstrations, 47 protestors were reported killed over the last fortnight, with the number of those killed increasing in recent days as clashes with police and security services increased in areas in the west and south of the country.
Return of the king
The mass demonstrations were sparked by a televised call by former crown prince Reza Pahlavi for the people of Iran to come onto the streets at 8pm local time.
After the broadcast, the people answered the call, and the scale of the protests escalated rapidly and dramatically.
Pahlavi specifically addressed Iran’s armed forces, calling on them to abandon the regime and “protect the people”. He asked them to scan a QR code broadcast onscreen on Iran International Live on TV to register their defections from supporting the regime.
However, he said that those members of the military who failed to register could face retribution from a post-regime-change government. “It is your last chance,” Pahlavi warned.
The speech appears to have been watched by most of the country and was also simultaneously broadcast from loudspeakers in many of the major cities of the country.
The crowds have been chanting for the return of the monarchy, but it remains unclear if there is genuine support for Pahlavi or if the chant are simply an expression of defiance and a poke in the eye to the ruling theocracy, which took over in the 1979 revolution when the previous shah fled the country for the US.
The crowds have also been chanting: “Do not be afraid. We are all together,” reviving a vintage slogan from previous large-scale demonstrations from 2009 and 2022, when hundreds of protestors were killed during a violent suppression of large-scale anti-regime demonstrations.
Exiled crown prince Reza Pahlavi gave a speech broadcast across Iran calling for the people to take to the streets and for the military toswitch sides that sparked the mass protests.
Senior figures
Supreme leader Ali Hosseini Khamenei, 86, is currently unknown, but reports indicate that other senior figures in the regime have either fled or are seeking French visas for themselves and their families, Le Figaro previously reported in France.
“Since 24 hours ago, high-ranking dignitaries from the reformist clan – including the president of the Islamic Assembly – have been attempting to obtain French visas for their families via a Parisian lawyer” Iranian-French journalist Emmanuel Razavi said on Le Figaro’s Points de Vue programme.
Reports from Lebanese media claim that the Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi arrived in Lebanon under the pretence of a normal state visit, but is accompanied by his wife and children. He left Iran on a small private jet, as pictured in official photos.
Those travelling with him included his new wife, Arezoo Ahmadfand, his daughter, Sadat, and his sons, Hossein and Reza. According to the reports, Araghchi and his family are expected to remain in residences designated for Iranian diplomats in Lebanon for an unspecified period.
Regional cities in uproar
The protests were biggest in the capital as tens of thousands took to the streets, overwhelming the security forces’ ability to control or disperse the crowds. Iranian protesters reportedly attacked a large column of regime security forces in Tehran. In the video below, on Ashrafi Esfahani highway in Tehran, hundreds of people are seen marching towards the Azadi Square area of the city.
Protestors have set ablaze the Islamic Republic of Iran Broadcasting (IRIB) Complex on Boostan Saadi Boulevard in the Central Iranian city of Isfahan, according to BBC Persian.
In the Fars Province, protesters allegedly stormed and took over a facility linked to the elite Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC), which crushes dissent at home and runs ops abroad.
Videos show crowds inside a Husseiniya in Darab, reportedly used as a base for suppression teams, chanting and claiming control. There were clashes popping in nearby cities including Fasa and Neyriz too. Internet blackouts make it impossible to confirm the reports.
A resident of Iran’s Khuzestan province said he received a phone call from Iranian security services with direct threats against his daughter. “I’m ready to sacrifice my daughter for the Iranian people,” he said in a post shared by the Nexta Telegram channel, which played a crucial role in uniting demonstrations in Belarus in 2020. According to him, the security forces promised to boil the child alive if he continued taking part in the protests.
“I am ready to sacrifice my life — and even her life — for the Iranian people,” the man said.
In southern Khuzestan, the demonstrators outnumbered the security guards, who fled in panic.
In the primarily Azerbaijani city of Tabriz in East Azerbaijan province, threatening the stability in Iran spreading into the Caucasus, which is being cautiously watched from Baku.
Total Blackout
An internet blackout has made it difficult to obtain information or verify reports and videos that are leaking out. IntelliNews team of reporters in the Iranian capital have gone offline and is unable to report.
But some information is trickling out via Iranians who have Starlink dishes to connect to the satellite-supported internet. Elon Musk, the owner of Starlink, has reportedly made Starlink access free to use in Iran.
Several reports seeping out of the protests through the night said people were able to connect to "free WIFI," according to internet channels following the protests; however, the source of the unfiltered connection could not be verified by IntelliNews.
The protests began following the collapse of the currency, which shut businesses down, but now it appears they have become increasingly political and are calling for a change in leadership.
According to some commentators, there is a split at the top as liberal reformists like Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian attempt to negotiate with the protestors, while hardliners want to simply crack down on demonstrators and disperse the crowds by force.
Commentators say that while the response to the demonstration on January 8 has already been bloody, the regime has not yet unleashed the full weight of a weaponised response, which could begin any moment.
While there is at least one report of police in a small regional town laying down their weapons and joining the protests, reportedly, the military, and especially the elite Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC), remain loyal to the cleric-led system.
The demonstrators revived a vintage protest chant: "Don't be afraid. We are all together," as they put their lives on the line to openly challenge the regime.
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