Iran Cuts Internet Access as Unrest Spreads and Authorities Report Damage in Several Cities
- SAUDI ARABIA BREAKING NEWS
- 2 hours ago
- 3 min read
Paris, Jan. 9, 2026 (Saudi Arabia Breaking News) – Iran was largely cut off from the outside world on Friday after authorities blacked out the internet to curb growing unrest, as video showed buildings and vehicles ablaze in anti-government protests in several cities.
In a televised address, Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei vowed not to back down, accusing demonstrators of acting on behalf of émigré opposition groups and the United States, as rights groups reported police firing on protesters in the south.
The unrest has not mobilized as many layers of society as other bouts of political, economic or human rights protests in recent years, but dozens are reported dead and authorities appear more vulnerable amid a dire economic situation and the aftermath of last year’s war with Israel and the United States.
While the initial protests were focused on the economy, with the rial losing half its value against the dollar last year and inflation topping 40% in December, they have broadened to include slogans aimed directly at the authorities.
The internet blackout has sharply reduced the amount of information leaving the country, while phone calls into Iran were not getting through. At least 17 flights between Dubai and Iran were cancelled, Dubai Airport’s website showed.
Protests began late last month with shopkeepers and bazaar merchants demonstrating over inflation and the rial, but soon spread to universities and provincial cities, with young men clashing with security forces.
Images published by state television overnight showed what it said were burning buses, cars and motorbikes, as well as fires at underground railway stations and banks. State media blamed the unrest on the People’s Mujahedin Organisation, an opposition faction based abroad.
Videos verified by Reuters as taken in Tehran showed hundreds of people marching. In one video, a woman could be heard shouting: “Death to Khamenei!”
The Iranian rights group Hengaw reported that a protest march after Friday prayers in Zahedan, where the Baluch minority predominates, had been met with gunfire that wounded several people.
Authorities have described protests over the economy as legitimate while condemning what they call violent rioters and deploying security forces.
“The Islamic Republic came to power through the blood of hundreds of thousands of honourable people. It will not back down in the face of vandals,” Khamenei said, accusing those involved in unrest of seeking to please U.S. President Donald Trump.
Judiciary head Gholamhossein Mohseni Ejei was quoted by state media as saying the punishment of rioters would be “decisive, maximal, and without legal leniency”.
Iran’s fragmented external opposition factions called for more protests, and demonstrators have chanted slogans including “Death to the dictator!” while praising the monarchy overthrown in 1979.
Reza Pahlavi, the exiled son of the late shah, urged Iranians in a social media post to take to the streets, though the extent of support inside Iran for the monarchy or the MKO is disputed.
Trump, who bombed Iran last summer and warned Tehran last week that the United States could come to the protesters’ aid, said on Friday he would not meet Pahlavi and was “not sure that it would be appropriate” to support him.
Germany condemned violence against protesters, saying the right to demonstrate and assemble must be guaranteed and media in Iran must be able to report freely.
