Iran Goes Silent

The situation in Iran and the protests seems to be the reason the Internet connectivity is down as we’re told in a report from The Jerusalem Post:

Tehran and several other parts of Iran experienced a digital blackout on Thursday as internet connectivity dropped across multiple service providers, internet monitoring group NetBlocks said, during nationwide protests against economic hardships. The Associated Press reported that attempts to call Iranian landlines and mobile phones from Dubai failed to connect, indicating that the regime may have suspended telephone service as well.

The protests are getting more and more active:

Footage seen by The Jerusalem Post and verified by BBC's Farsi channel appears to show that protesters set fire to an Islamic Republic of Iran Broadcasting (IRIB) office in Isfahan during the protests. London-based anti-regime outlet Iran International reported that IRIB's Mashhad office was a focal point for protesters.

Blocking streets is part and parcel with protests as well, but things are getting violent, too:

Anti-regime social media news and activist accounts shared footage that appears to show thousands marching through the streets in Mashhad, blocking a major boulevard in the northeastern city. Mashhad is notable as the birthplace of Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, as well as being the second-largest city in the country, after Tehran.

Footage from Tehran appeared to show vehicles overturned and burned during the protests.

Iranian media even reports that soldiers have been killed:

Two Iranian regime officers were killed during protests in the western Iranian city of Kermanshah, the Hengaw Organization for Human Rights reported, citing Iranian state media.

As expected, Israel is supporting these protests:

Israel's Foreign Ministry's Farsi social media account has sent out various messages of support to the protesters, including sharing information on the internet outages.

"Qom, Mashhad, Tehran, Dezful. All of Iran is under the feet of the people of Iran," the ministry wrote on X/Twitter.

They even point the finger at Iran’s leadership for cutting online access:

"The Islamic Republic has cut off people's internet. Why?" the ministry accused.

An obvious reason is that the protestors can’t coordinate actions, but another one is that news of what is happening can’t be seen in the world.

Iran Is Hurting

As I’ve reported on previously, Iran has used Venezuela to do an end around on sanctions, but with that country on the ropes after Trump arrested its leader, the flow of oil and gold is stopped:

Iran's economy is facing high inflation and other challenges, partly due to US sanctions, US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said, underscoring Washington's concerns about Tehran cracking down violently on anti-regime protests.

"The Iranian economy is on the ropes," Bessent told the Economic Club of Minnesota, underscoring President Donald Trump's warning to Tehran to avoid harming protesters.

Bessent went on to note that his boss knows this is a tense time:

"It's a very precarious moment. He does not want them to harm more of the protesters. This is a tense moment," he added, referring to US President Donald Trump's threat on Sunday to hit Tehran if it began killing protesters.

The son of the last Shah of Iran spoke up about the precarious situation in Iran:

Earlier on Thursday, Iran’s Crown Prince Reza Pahlavi issued a warning to the Islamic regime, stating that "the world and Trump are closely watching you.

"Suppression of the people will not go unanswered," Pahlavi added.

Trump, for his part appears to be giving Iran’s leadership some room on how they’re handling the protestors:

During an interview on the Hugh Hewitt show on Thursday, Trump said that if the Iranian regime forces "start killing people," the US will "hit them really hard."

When asked what point the US would intervene, given that over 30 protestors have been killed so far, Trump claimed that many protestors have been "killed by problems with crowd control" and that he "isn't sure [he] can necessarily hold somebody responsible for that."

I respect Trump, but that was a bad answer. They were killed because Iran is cracking down on them, simple as that. This isn’t a random matter of crowd control. That reply aside, before the Internet shutdown occurred, evidence of the size of the protests did get out:

Videos shared on social media showed crowds of protesters gathering in cities across Iran, chanting anti-regime slogans. One such video, shared by an opposition-affiliated outlet, IranWire, showed a large crowd walking down Kashani Boulevard in Tehran. Thousands of protesters filled the streets of Tehran, Shiraz, Kermanshah, Tabriz, and numerous other cities, with crowds walking between cars stopped on the road.

Unverified videos circulated by opposition outlets show protestors setting fire to a municipal building in Gorgan, a city to the northeast of Tehran.

Pahlavi Speaks Up

As mentioned before, the son of the former Shah of Iran went on his X channel to encourage the Iranian protesters who want him to come back:

In Shadabad, Tehran, videos emerged of protesters lighting fires, chanting "Long live the Shah."

On Wednesday, Pahlavi reiterated his call for nationwide protests across Iran, urging demonstrators to maintain their presence in the streets and warning that the regime may attempt to cut Internet access to stifle unrest. In a message posted on social media, Pahlavi said that public participation across Iran earlier in the day had been “unprecedented,” describing it as a signal of readiness for the next phase of protests planned for Thursday evening.

Cutting off access to the Internet has happened before so Pahlavi saw the move coming. He went on to tell Iranians to keep protesting in spite of the loss of social media:

“My fellow countrymen, today, Wednesday, January 7, your presence across Iran was unprecedented,” Pahlavi wrote. “And this constitutes a declaration of readiness for tomorrow’s plan.”

The prince referred to his earlier call for coordinated chanting and demonstrations at 8 p.m. on Thursday, January 8, with additional protests planned for 24 hours later, adding that reports indicated the Islamic Republic was “deeply frightened” and considering another nationwide Internet shutdown.

“Know that our communication will not be severed,” Pahlavi said, pointing to alternative channels including satellite internet access and Iran-based Persian-language television networks operating from abroad.

In his video, he said that the Internet loss would only stiffen the resolve of the protests:

Pahlavi warned that any attempt by the regime to cut off Internet access would only further energize the protest movement.

“If the regime commits such a mistake and cuts the Internet, that itself will be another call to continue your presence and to take over the streets,” he wrote. “In this way, you will drive yet another nail into the coffin of this regime.”

Internet shutdowns by the regime often signal the beginning of harsher crackdowns in Iranian protests. The Islamic Republic previously imposed near-total Internet shutdowns during periods of unrest, including during the November 2019 protests and the 2022 demonstrations following the death of Mahsa Amini.

Pahlavi then ended with an encouraging message:

Pahlavi concluded his message with a note of confidence in the protest movement’s momentum, declaring: “You will be victorious. Long live Iran.”

He called for protests earlier:

The statement followed Pahlavi’s first direct call on Wednesday for coordinated protests, in which he urged Iranians to gather in large, disciplined numbers and appealed to members of Iran’s security forces to refrain from firing on demonstrators and instead “return to the embrace of the nation.”

Iranian leadership is trying to look like they care when they said this:

Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian warned domestic suppliers against hoarding or overpricing goods, state media reported earlier on Thursday.

"People should not feel any shortage in terms of goods' supply and distribution," he said, calling upon his government to ensure an adequate supply of goods and the monitoring of prices across the country.

Compassion would be to let them have the freedoms they protest fight for. And they could also quit squandering their resources to destroy Israel as well.