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• Khamenei claims ‘rioters’ are trying to appease Trump; Araghchi says Americans, Israelis ‘directly’ involved
• Exiled Pahlavi urges Washington to intervene
• Officials report significant damage to public properties; nationwide internet blackout, flights grounded
DUBAI: Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei said on Friday that “rioters” were trying to “please” US President Donald Trump as anti-government protests continued for a 13th consecutive day, with an internet blackout imposed in the country.
“There are some agitators who want to please the American president by destroying public property,” Khamenei said.
Iran’s Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi also directly accused the US and Israel of fanning the flames of dissent.
“This is what the Americans and Israelis have stated, that they are directly intervening in the protests in Iran,” Araghchi said during a visit to Lebanon.
“They are trying to transform the peaceful protests into divisive and violent ones.” He dismissed the possibility of foreign military intervention as low, citing past failures of such attempts.
On the other hand, Reza Pahlavi, the son of Iran’s former shah who is living in exile, has requested that Trump “be ready to intervene to help the people of Iran”.
“Mr President, this is an urgent and immediate call for your attention, support, and action,” Pahlavi wrote in a post on X. “The people will be on the streets again in an hour. I am asking you to help.”
What and where?
Iran International reported that slogans have shifted from economic grievances toward overtly political and anti-government chants. The outlet also highlighted calls for the return of the monarchy, a system overthrown by the popular Islamic Revolution in 1979.
Earlier, Reuters had noted its inability to verify a huge volume of what appeared to be AI-generated videos of the events being circulated on social media, BBC Verify claimed to verify and map the locations of some gatherings.
Their reports highlighted significant clustering in the West (Kurdish and Lor regions), the Central corridor including Isfahan and the capital, Tehran, and the Southeast in Zahedan.
According to a BBC-published map, protest locations include Tehran, Karaj, Qazvin, Qom, Arak, Mashhad, Sari, Babol, Rasht, Lahijan, Kermanshah, Hamadan, Sanandaj, Ardabil, Tabriz, Urmia, Khorramabad, Borujerd, Dorud, Azna, Kuhdasht, Nurabad, Ilam, Malekshahi, Abdanan, Sarableh, Lomar, Isfahan, Fuladshahr, Najafabad, Yazd, Ahvaz, Dezful, Izeh, Abadan, Khorramshahr, Behbahan, Shahr-e Kord, Lordegan, Farsan, Shiraz, Marvdasht, Fasa, Neyriz, Bushehr, Bandar Abbas, Qeshm, Zahedan, Chabahar, and Iranshahr.
On ground, huge crowds of protesters poured into the streets of Tehran on Thursday night following a direct call for nationwide protests issued by Pahlavi. The chant, “Pahlavi will return,” was a consistent feature in these disturbances.
While BBC Verify reports focused on the response of security forces, they also identified video clips documenting clear instances of aggression by rioters targeting law enforcement.
In the holy city of Qom, footage showed officers on motorbikes being ambushed and pelted with rocks by a small group of agitators.
In another highly disturbing clip, a security officer was set ablaze by a demonstrator using an improvised flamethrower after forces intervened to detain an individual. The footage cuts off before the officer’s fate is known, as other officers pursued the assailant.
In Azna, a city in the west, rioters reportedly started a fire outside a police station. This act of arson occurred after security forces had responded to gunfire from protesters earlier in the day. The BBC’s Persian service has claimed at least three demonstrators were killed in Azna.
The US-based Human Rights Activist News Agency (HRANA) reported that at least 34 protesters and four security personnel have died, with 2,200 arrested.
‘External threats’
Khamenei in his address vowed that the nation would stand firm against external and internal threats.
“A united Iranian people will defeat all enemies. The Islamic Republic came to power through the blood of hundreds of thousands of noble human beings. The Islamic Republic will not back down in the face of those who are looking to destroy us.”
Khamenei directly responded to Trump’s provocations. “I urgently call on Trump to focus on the problems of his own country,” the supreme leader said.
Highlighting destructive nature of the riots, Tehran Mayor Alireza Zakani reported significant damage to the capital’s infrastructure.
Mr Zakani said rioters have targeted 26 banks, two hospitals, 25 mosques, police facilities and 48 fire trucks.
Israel has maintained a cautious public posture, with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu reportedly instructing his cabinet to refrain from commenting so as not to give the Iranian government a pretext to rally domestic support against a foreign enemy.
However, Netanyahu has previously expressed solidarity with what he termed “the struggle of the Iranian people.”
Separately, Pakistan’s Foreign Office spokesperson said Islamabad firmly opposed any foreign interference in the domestic affairs of other countries, including Iran, in its first public comments since a fresh wave of protests erupted across the Islamic republic. He said Pakistan viewed the situation in Iran as an internal matter and rejected external pressure or aggression.
The spokesperson stressed that Pakistan did not wish to comment on Iran’s internal developments.
Flights and internet
At least 17 flights between Dubai and Iranian cities including Tehran, Shiraz and Mashhad scheduled for Friday and operated by flydubai have been cancelled, the Dubai Airports website showed.
The website did not provide a reason for the cancellations, but a countrywide internet blackout was reported in Iran on Thursday and extended into Friday as authorities moved to curb expanding protests.—Monitoring Desk
Published in Dawn, January 10th, 2026
