Iran’s military says it will protect strategic infrastructure and public property as it calls on Iranians to thwart “enemy plots” after US President Donald Trump issued a new warning to Iranian leaders over escalating anti-government protests.
In a statement posted on a semi-official news site, the military accused Israel and “hostile terrorist groups” on Saturday of aiming to “undermine the country’s security.”
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“The Army, under the direction of the Commander-in-Chief, works with other services to resolutely protect and defend national interests, the nation’s strategic infrastructure, and public property, in addition to monitoring enemy movements in the region.”
Iran’s elite Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps (IRGC), which operates separately from the military, warned on Saturday that protecting the fruits of the 1979 revolution and the country’s security is a “red line that must not be crossed,” state television reported.
The warning comes as the Iranian government steps up efforts to quell the largest protests in years, with thousands of people taking to the streets angered by rising costs of living and inflation.
Demonstrations have been taking place across Iran since late December as calls for an end to the clerical system that has ruled Iran since the 1979 Islamic Revolution have grown louder.
According to Reuters, the unrest continued overnight on Saturday, with state media accusing “rioters” of setting fire to the city hall in Karaj, west of Tehran.
Meanwhile, Iranian Attorney General Mohammad Movahedi Azad warned on Saturday that anyone who takes part in the protests will be considered an “enemy of God” and face the death penalty, state television reported.
Tasnim news agency also reported that at least 100 “armed insurgents” were arrested.
According to Reuters, News TV broadcast footage of the funeral of a member of Iranian security forces killed during protests in the cities of Shiraz, Qom and Hamedan.
Video released by a Persian-language television station based outside Iran showed large crowds of people taking part in new protests in the eastern city of Mashhad and the northern city of Tabriz.
US-Iran trade agreement
Earlier on Saturday, US Secretary of State Marco Rubio reiterated the US government’s support for the Iranian people after Iranian authorities cut off internet access in an attempt to quell protests.
“The United States stands behind the brave people of Iran,” Rubio wrote to X.
The post came hours after President Trump issued another warning to Iranian leaders: “You better not start shooting because we’re going to start shooting too.”
President Trump said Iranian leaders appeared to be “in big trouble” and repeated his earlier threat of military strikes if peaceful protesters were killed. “It looks to me like people are taking over certain cities that no one really thought was possible just a few weeks ago,” he says.
Iran’s supreme leader Ayatollah Khamenei on Friday called the protesters “destroyers” and “subversives.”
In a speech broadcast on Press TV, Khamenei said President Trump’s hands were “stained with the blood of more than 1,000 Iranians,” an apparent reference to Israel’s attack on Iran in June, which the United States also supported and took part in its own attack on.
Khamenei predicted that the “arrogant” US leader would be “overthrown” like the imperial dynasty that ruled Iran until the 1979 revolution.
“Everyone knows that the Islamic Republic came to power with the blood of hundreds of thousands of honorable people. We will not back down in the face of obstructionists,” he said.
Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi, who visited Lebanon on Friday, accused the US and Israel of “directly interfering” in an effort to “turn peaceful protests into divisive and violent protests” – a statement a US State Department spokesperson claimed was “delusional”.
“Various approaches”
Al Jazeera’s Tohid Asadi, reporting from Tehran, said protests were growing in the capital Tehran and other cities.
“[The protests] “The beginning was sporadic, but over the past few days there have been more and more protests, especially in the capital,” he said, adding that in Tehran on Thursday, demonstrations “degenerated into violence in many streets.”
He said the state was trying to bring the situation under control with a “mixed approach”, including tightening safety measures and introducing new subsidy schemes for citizens.
But Mehran Kamrava, a government professor at Georgetown University in Qatar, said the subsidies would do little to quell public dissatisfaction with rising costs of living.
“According to the government, the inflation rate is 42%. Unofficially it is closer to 60%. So it seems that these kinds of measures do not relieve any economic pressure on the people,” Kamraba told Al Jazeera.
The demonstrations are the largest in Iran since the 2022-2023 protests sparked by the custodial death of Martha Amini, who was arrested on suspicion of violating Iran’s strict dress code for women.
Human rights groups and foreign governments have called on Iranian authorities to respect the right to peaceful protest and refrain from using excessive force against demonstrators.
Amnesty International said the “total internet shutdown” imposed this week was aimed at “hiding the true extent of gross human rights violations and crimes under international law” in order to quell the protests.
Meanwhile, the son of Iran’s ousted Shah, who is based in the United States, urged Iranians to stage more targeted protests aimed at the capture and subsequent occupation of urban centers.
“Our goal is no longer just street action. Our goal is to occupy the city center and prepare to take control,” Reza Pahlavi said in a video message on social media, calling for further protests on Saturday and Sunday.
The Norway-based NGO Iranian Human Rights said at least 51 protesters, including nine children, were killed by security forces and hundreds more were injured.
