Iran Threatens Protesters With Death
On the 13th day of increasingly tense protests against Iran’s leadership, Crown Prince Reza Pahlavi urged U.S. President Donald Trump to intervene on behalf of the anti-government demonstrators. His comments came a short while after Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei finally addressed the unrest with a defiant tone, blaming Trump for sparking the protests and suggesting that crackdowns will become more severe. Meanwhile, an Iranian prosecutor is threatening protestors with death. More on that later in this story.
Amid all the rhetoric, the ferocity of the unrest has reportedly compelled the U.S. intelligence community to rethink its initial assessment of the situation, recognizing that it is more serious than initially thought. Meanwhile, observers say the death toll has increased as millions of Iranians again took to the streets across the nation. Protestors are blaming a regime crackdown, while Iranian security forces say they have been the subject of attacks by unruly mobs.
As we previously noted, the protests began Dec. 28. 2025, sparked by anger over rising prices, devalued currency, a devastating drought, and brutal government crackdowns. You can catch up with our previous coverage of the unfolding events here.
Video emerging on social media shows large crowds continuing demonstrations throughout the country, with some showing damaged buildings in the aftermath of previous protests. However, getting a full picture of what is unfolding remains a challenge given the ongoing shutdown of internet and phone service in Iran.
Pahlavi, whose fatally ill father, Mohammad Reza Pahlavi, fled Iran ahead of the 1979 Islamic revolution, is now living in exile in the U.S. He called upon Trump to back up tough words with actions. As we have pointed out before, the American leader has said the Khamenei regime is “going to have to pay hell” if it starts killing protestors in large numbers.
“Mr. President, this is an urgent and immediate call for your attention, support, and action,” Pahlavi extolled on X. “Last night you saw the millions of brave Iranians in the streets facing down live bullets. Today, they are facing not just bullets but a total communications blackout. No Internet. No landlines. Ali Khamenei, fearing the end of his criminal regime at the hands of the people and with the help of your powerful promise to support the protesters, has threatened the people on the streets with a brutal crackdown.”
“I have called the people to the streets to fight for their freedom and to overwhelm the security forces with sheer numbers. Last night they did that,” Pahlavi continued. “Your threat to this criminal regime has also kept the regime’s thugs at bay. But time is of the essence. The people will be on the streets again in an hour. I am asking you to help. You have proven and I know you are a man of peace and a man of your word. Please be prepared to intervene to help the people of Iran.”
Asked for a response from the Trump administration, the White House referred us to the president’s remarks yesterday, which can be seen in the following video.
In his speech before supporters in Qom province, Khamenei took aim at Trump and other outside “hirelings” for fanning the flames.
Trump “made an irrelevant and provocative statement declaring that, should the government of Iran take certain actions, he would move against it,” Khamenei complained. “Such remarks have emboldened rioters and elements hostile to the nation. Were he truly capable of governing his own country, he would attend to its numerous internal crises.”
The Iranian leader then intimated that those continuing to protest will be met with a harsh response.
“Certain people accept and act according to his wishes, engaging in acts of sabotage and arson merely to please” Trump, Khamenei continued. “It must be clearly understood that the Islamic Republic was established through the sacrifice of hundreds of thousands of honorable individuals, and those who opposed it have failed. The Islamic Republic will not be overthrown. Do not serve foreign powers, whoever you may be, if you become an agent of foreigners and act on their behalf, the Iranian nation will disown you, and the Islamic establishment will likewise reject you as for that arrogant man who sits in judgment over the entire world.”
Full Speech: Khamenei’s 1st Reaction Amid Iran Protests, Trump Regime Change Threat, Israel War Plan
Tehran’s prosecutor took an even harsher stance, threatening protestors with death.
“We will show no leniency toward instigators of unrest,” said Ali Salehi. “They will be charged with Fasad fil ard (‘spreading mischief on earth’), which carries the death penalty.”
So far, “at least 51 protesters, including nine children under the age of 18, have been killed and hundreds more injured in the first 13 days of the new round of nationwide protests in Iran,” the Norway-based Iran Human Rights NGO (IHRNGO) reported on Friday. “IHRNGO has also received reports of dozens more protesters being killed in Tehran, Mashhad, Karaj (Fardis) and Hamedan. These reports are currently being verified and not included in the present figures.”
There are claims that Iran’s Basij security forces opened fire on protestors in Tehran.
Meanwhile, Iran’s state media has released a video it claims shows protestors shooting security forces in Kermanshah. Iranian officials said security personnel were killed in Tehran as well.
“After unrest in various cities and locations, the capital was also affected by the brutal attacks of armed terrorism,” the official Iranian Tasnim news agency claimed. “Last night, armed terrorists martyred several personnel of the Greater Tehran Police Intelligence with direct Kalashnikov gunfire.”
Meanwhile, Iranian intelligence is urging residents to turn in those engaging in demonstrations.
As the protests rage on, the idea that they pose a serious challenge to the Khamenei regime is gaining increasing traction in U.S. intelligence circles, Axios reported on Friday.
“Early this week, U.S. intelligence assessed that the protests lacked sufficient energy to challenge the stability of the regime,” U.S. officials told Axios. “But that view is being reassessed in light of recent events.”
Mike Waltz, the U.S. Ambassador to the U.N., said, “America stands with the Iranian people in their quest for basic dignity and freedom.”
Though Khamenei has vowed not to back down to protestors, a British Member of Parliament suggested some Iranian leaders may be preparing to leave the country.
“We’re also seeing Russian cargo aircraft coming and landing in Tehran, presumably carrying weapons and ammunition, and we’re hearing reports of large amounts of gold leaving Iran,” Tom Tugendhat told parliament. He then asked whether the government could update lawmakers on reports that “suggest that the regime itself is preparing for life after the fall.”
U.K. Minister for the Middle East and North Africa Hamish Falconer said he was “not in a position to give a detailed update” on the reports.
The War Zone cannot independently verify Tugendhat’s claim.
Yesterday, we noted that the protests are raging as Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu ordered new plans to attack Iran over concerns about its nuclear weapons ambitions and the rebuilding of the country’s military capabilities. The Israeli leader’s statement came days before Trump’s latest threat to take action against Iran.
Though no military movements by either Jerusalem or Washington appear imminent, these threats, as we reported yesterday, raise the question of whether either would risk an attack that could potentially galvanize the population behind the Ayatollah. A senior Israeli Defense Forces (IDF) official told us that these concerns are baked into any attack plans.
“If Israel were to strike Iran as an exploitation of an opportunity, namely a moment of Iranian weakness, such a move would, in my view, take place only with full coordination, cooperation, and backing from President Trump,” said the official, offering an unclassified assessment of the situation. “Israel, as I understand it, would not act independently in such a scenario.”
“Should Trump decide that the time is right and that it aligns with his own interests to confront Iran, he would likely give a green light for an Israeli strike,” the official added, speaking on condition of anonymity to discuss operational details. “There is a relatively high likelihood that Trump could pursue such a course, particularly in light of Khamenei’s repeated public disparagement of him, Trump’s explicit warnings to the Iranian leadership against harming protesting civilians, and the fact that the Iranian regime has now begun violently suppressing and killing protesters.”
Regardless of what actions will be taken in the future, the official concurred with Khamenei that outside influences have already been at work during these protests.
“It is reasonable to assume that covert operatives, alongside recruited and motivated Iranian citizens, are helping to organize, lead, and sustain the protests and the broader struggle against this totalitarian system,” he posited.
Update: 4:30 PM Eastern –
During a meeting with oil industry officials Friday afternoon, Trump repeated his stance that he could attack Iran if the crackdowns on protesters get out of hand.
“Iran is in big trouble,” Trump said. “It looks to me that the people are taking over certain cities that nobody thought were really possible just a few weeks ago. We’re watching the situation very carefully. I’ve made the statement very strongly that if they start killing people like they have in the past, we will get involved. We’ll be hitting them very hard where it hurts. And that doesn’t mean boots on the ground, but it means hitting them very, very hard where it hurts. So we don’t want that to happen.”
One site of the ongoing protests has been geolocated to Tehran.
Meanwhile, it appears that Iranian anti-regime demonstrators have practically taken over Mashhad, Iran’s second-largest city. The regime’s security forces have retreated to just a few government buildings and don’t move from there.
Contact the author: howard@thewarzone.com
