Revolutionary Guard Corps says
protecting achievement of 1979 revolution is 'red line', as Trump issues
warning to Tehran
Iran's Islamic Revolutionary
Guard Corps (IRGC) said that safeguarding national security was a "red
line", as the most widespread protests in years continued overnight.
The IRGC - an elite Iranian force
separate from the army - said on Saturday that it would protect the country's
security and the achievements of the 1979 Islamic revolution.
It accused "terrorists"
of targeting military and law enforcement bases over the past two nights,
killing citizens and security officers, as well as setting property on fire.
Meanwhile the army, which like
the IRGC is also commanded by Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, said it
would "protect and safeguard national interests, the country's strategic
infrastructure and public property".
Protests spread across Iran two
weeks ago. It began in response to rising inflation, but soon turned political,
with some demonstrators calling for the end of the Islamic Republic.
Overnight, state media said that
a municipal building was set fire in Karaj, west of Tehran.
Doctors in Tehran said that just
six hospitals in the capital had recorded at least 217 protester deaths, “most
by live ammunition” as hospitals were overwhelmed.
Iranian authorities appear to
have shut down the internet for over a day, according to an internet monitoring
organisation.
"After another night of
protests met with repression, metrics show the nationwide internet blackout
remains in place at 36 hours," Netblocks said on X on Saturday morning.
The internet blockage was
condemned by two Iranian filmmakers.
"Experience has shown that
resorting to such measures is intended to conceal the violence inflicted during
the suppression of protests," Mohammad Rasoulof and Jafar Panahi said on
the Instagram account of Panahi, who won the top prize at last year's Cannes
Film Festival.
In interviews with Middle East
Eye earlier this week, protesters described an economy that has become
unmanageable for ordinary households.
"In just a few days, prices
have multiplied. How can it be this disastrous? How can prices rise this
much?" said Mani, a 27-year-old from Mashhad who joined the
demonstrations. "If this country had responsible rulers, things would not
be like this."
"Every time we get tired of
this situation and come out to the streets, we are suddenly called Israelis or
CIA agents," she added.
Mehdi, 31, from Falavarjan in
Isfahan province, said he joined demonstrations after hearing comments by
senior officials.
"We are exhausted," he
said. "Our lives and our youth have been wasted under the Islamic
Republic. Now they threaten us. What do we really have left to lose?"
Trump issues threat
Hrana, an Iranian rights
organisation, said that as of Friday, it had documented at least 65 deaths.
That included 50 protesters and 15 security personnel.
State television broadcast
footage of funerals of security officers it said were killed in the cities of
Hamedan, Qom and Shiraz.
The IRGC public relations office
said three members of the Basij security force were killed and five wounded
during confrontations with "armed rioters" in Gachsaran, in
southwestern Iran.
Another security officer was
stabbed to death in Hamedan, in western Iran, Reuters reported.
The son of a senior officer,
Nourali Shoushtari, was also killed in the Ahmadabad area of Mashhad, in the
northeast.
Meanwhile, two other security
personnel were killed over the past two nights in Shushtar, in Khuzestan
province.
On Friday, Khamenei accused
protesters of acting on behalf of US President Donald Trump, warning that
authorities would not tolerate people acting as "mercenaries for
foreigners".
Trump hinted at intervention if
security forces violently crack down on the protesters.
"You better not start
shooting because we'll start shooting too," he said on Friday. "I
just hope the protesters in Iran are going to be safe, because that's a very
dangerous place right now."
Meanwhile, Marco Rubio, the US
secretary of state, said: "The United States supports the brave people of
Iran."
Leaders in Germany, France and
the UK issued a joint statement condemning the killing of protesters and urging
Tehran to refrain from violence.
The unrest marks the largest
protests in Iran since the "Woman Life Freedom" protests in 2022.
The head of the FARAJA Special
Forces Units said eight members were killed by ‘swarms of violent rioters’
armed with guns and other weapons
According to the semi-official Tasnim News Agency, the number stands at 109 security personnel.
This includes eight members of Iran’s FARAJA Special Forces Units.
“The servicemen were martyred after swarms of violent rioters attacked them by firing bullets and hitting the law enforcement forces with various weapons,” said the commander of the special forces General Masoud Mosaddeq.
In Isfahan alone, 30 members of the security forces were killed during the latest riots.
Qodratollah Mohammadi, the chief of the Tehran Fire Department, said “armed rioters have set 26 houses ablaze, and launched arson attacks on 34 mosques, 40 banks, 15 shopping centers, 13 government buildings, and 50 vehicles, including public service cars.”
Testimonies from Iranian citizens shown on local media revealed how armed rioters violently attacked civilians. Detained rioters also gave testimonies to authorities about how they were instructed by handlers to shoot people in the head in order to pin blame on security forces, state broadcaster IRIB reported.
Western-based rights groups say dozens of protesters were shot dead by security forces. HRANA, the US-based media arm of the Human Rights Activists in Iran (HRAI) group, funded by the US National Endowment for Democracy (NED), said 116 protesters have been killed.
“We are working hard to solve the problems of the people who are protesting; we’re working with unions and economic authorities to solve their problems,” said Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian on Sunday.
“But protests are different from riots. Those who are killing people with weapons, burning the bazaars, burning the police alive … these are not Iranians,” he went on to say, urging citizens to prevent these elements from infiltrating protests.
The head of Iran’s Supreme National Security Council, Ali Larijani, urged “decisive action” against all rioters.
“The Judiciary must take decisive action against those who create insecurity, kill people, and vandalize public properties in the riots that have engulfed a number of cities in Iran in recent days. It is necessary to draw a distinction between protests and riots,” he told IRIB.
At least 200 rioters and riot leaders have been arrested in recent days. The Iranian government has also imposed a nationwide internet blackout as unrest spreads, cutting communications across the country amid vows to deal decisively with the unrest.
According to local reports, videos were found on the phones of some protesters, including instructional messages from what appeared to be foreign intelligence. The messages guide protesters on how to act if caught by security forces, while urging young anti-government protesters to put pictures of Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei as their wallpaper on their phones in order to disguise themselves as pro-Islamic Republic.
The protests erupted in late December 2025 following a sharp collapse in Iran’s currency, driven by years of suffocating US and western sanctions compounded by soaring inflation, economic mismanagement, and corruption. Shortly after they began, the protests were co-opted by violent elements, leading to deaths and widespread destruction, alongside an intense global social media campaign calling for the return of exiled crown prince Reza Pahlavi, who has openly urged people to support the movement.
Since the protests began, US President Donald Trump has repeatedly threatened to attack the Islamic Republic.
The Mossad also publicly urged Iranians to take to the streets, saying, “We are with you.”
Netanyahu visited the US recently and discussed potential new strikes on the Islamic Republic with Trump. During a press conference, the US president said he would potentially support a new Israeli attack.
“Trump administration officials have had preliminary discussions about how to carry out an attack on Iran if needed to follow through on Trump’s threats, including what sites might be targeted,” anonymous US officials told the Wall Street Journal (WSJ) on 10 January.
“One option being discussed is a large-scale aerial strike on multiple Iranian military targets. There wasn’t a consensus on what course of action to take, and no military equipment or personnel had been moved in preparation for a strike,” the sources added.
Iran has vowed a harsh response to any attack, and has signaled that it may take preemptive action against Israel.
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