Exiled Iran prince asks protesters to prepare to seize city centres as 65 killed in crackdown
Iran's crackdown deepens with 65 dead and 2,300 detained as nationwide protests continue, the internet remains shut, andthe US backs demonstrators
At least 65 people have been killed and over 2,300 others detained in the ongoing protests in Iran, which entered its second week on Saturday (January 10), a day on which the US-based Reza Pahlavi, the exiled son of the ousted shah, urged protesters to "prepare" to seize city centres.
"Our goal is no longer merely to come to the streets. The goal is to prepare for seizing the centres of cities and holding them," said Pahlavi.
The Iranian government acknowledged the protests despite the intensifying crackdown on the agitators. The death toll was reported by the US-based Human Rights Activists News Agency.
The Islamic Republic remains cut off from the world, with the internet down and lines cut off. However, the Iranian State TV has been reporting on security force casualties while portraying control over the nation.
Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei has signalled a coming clampdown, despite US warnings.
Rubio pledges US support to protesters
The Trump administration, however, reiterated its support for the protesters with Secretary of State Marco Rubio stating in a post on X, “The United States supports the brave people of Iran.”
Also Read: Iran’s Khamenei slams Trump, warns protesters of foreign links
The US State Department also warned Tehran not to take President Donald Trump lightly, stating, “Do not play games with President Trump. When he says he'll do something, he means it.”
Saturday marks the start of the work week in Iran, but many schools and universities reportedly held online classes, Iranian state TV reported.
Field reports contradict state media
State TV repeatedly played a driving, martial orchestral arrangement from the “Epic of Khorramshahr” by Iranian composer Majid Entezami, while showing pro-government demonstrations.
The song, aired repeatedly during the 12-day war launched by Israel, honours Iran's 1982 liberation of the city of Khorramshahr during the Iran-Iraq war. It has been used in videos of protesting women cutting away their hair to protest the 2022 death of Mahsa Amini as well.
Also Read: Internet blackout in Iran as protests intensify after exiled prince’s call
“Field reports indicate that peace prevailed in most cities of the country at night,” a state TV anchor reported.
“After a number of armed terrorists attacked public places and set fire to people's private property last night, there was no news of any gathering or chaos in Tehran and most provinces last night.”
However, it was contradicted by an online video verified by The Associated Press that showed demonstrations in northern Tehran's Saadat Abad area, with what appeared to be thousands on the street. “Death to Khamenei!” a man chanted.
Scenes of protest
The semiofficial Fars news agency, believed to be close to Iran's paramilitary Revolutionary Guard and one of the few media outlets able to publish to the outside world, released surveillance camera footage of what it said came from demonstrations in Isfahan.
Also Read: Chance of US ‘intervention’ grows as Iran protests go on; 35 dead, 1,200 held
In it, a protester appeared to fire a long gun, while others set fires and threw gasoline bombs at what appeared to be a government compound.
The Young Journalists' Club, associated with state TV, reported that protesters killed three members of the Guard's all-volunteer Basij force in the city of Gachsaran. It also reported a security official was stabbed to death in Hamadan province, a police officer was killed in the port city of Bandar Abbas and another in Gilan, as well as one person was slain in Mashhad.
State television also aired footage of a funeral service attended by hundreds in Qom, a Shiite seminary city just south of Tehran.
What Iran's exiled Crown Prince said
Iran's theocracy cut off the nation from the internet and international telephone calls on Thursday, though it allowed some state-owned and semiofficial media to publish. Qatar's state-funded Al Jazeera news network reported live from Iran, but they appeared to be the only major foreign outlet able to work.
Pahlavi, who called for protests Thursday and Friday, asked demonstrators to take to the streets Saturday and Sunday with Iran's old lion-and-sun flag, used during the time of the Shah.
(With agency inputs)