At least two people were killed Saturday as unrest in the streets of Tehran continued for a sixth consecutive day, as the supreme leader vowed to put demonstrators “in their place.”
Demonstrations continued to explode across 22 of the Islamic Republic’s 31 provinces, with state-affiliated media reporting two deaths on Saturday among those protesting the regime over the collapse of Tehran’s currency — 1 US dollar is currently worth 42,125 Iranian rial.
Two people were killed in Qom when a grenade exploded during overnight protests, Iran state media reported. The number of fatalities has risen to 10 since turning deadly Thursday.
Security officials in Iran claimed that one man was carrying the grenade to attack people in the city, which is 80 miles south of Tehran and home to many Shiite seminaries.
In the town of Harsin, an unidentified member of the volunteer wing of the Iranian Revolutionary Guard was killed in a gun and knife attack, the Associate Press repoted citing local outlets.
Dozens of protesters were arrested Saturday, according to Iran International. One video showed plain clothes officers from the regime violently arresting a young protester in the city of Sari, the outlet reported.
Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, Tehran’s beleaguered supreme leader, acknowledged the Iranians’ right to protest, but pushed back against “soft warfare” which he suggested was responsible for rioters.
“Protesting is legitimate, but protesting is different from rioting. We talk with protesters. The officials must talk with the protesters,” Khamenei wrote on X.
“But there’s no point in talking with a rioter.”
The supreme leader said “soft warfare” creates doubt within a society “through deception, lies, slander, temptation, and fallacious arguments.”
“We will bring the enemy to its knees,” Khamanei also wrote Saturday as the blood of Iranians ran through drought-stricken streets.
Protests turned deadly Thursday as regime thugs opened fire on a crowd of protesters in the southwestern city of Lordegan, killing two.
One of the protesters slain Thursday was identified as Amirhossein Bayati — locally known as ‘Amir Caffeine’ — a newly-wed cafe owner from the western city Hamedan, according to Iran International.
Iranian authorities prevented Bayati’s family from seeing his body and confiscated their cell phones, the report claimed.
The other protester killed Thursday was identified as Sajjad Valamanesh, who was not affiliated with any political party, and was pro-monarchy, according to Iran International.
The regime even threatened to shoot at US troops, treating them as “legitimate targets” in response to President Trump — the “dishonorable president of America” — vowing to protect the rights of protesting Iranian civilians.
“If Iran shoots and violently kills peaceful protesters, which is their custom, the United States of America will come to their rescue,” Trump wrote on Truth Social.
The threat of force came less than a week after Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian told state TV that Tehran was in a state of “total war with the United States, Israel, and Europe.”
Since the 12-Day War with Israel in June, punctuated by the US entering the conflict and administering devastating airstrikes on Tehran’s nuclear program, the Islamic Republic has continued to suffer economically and environmentally.
The regime has considered evacuating its capital city, Tehran, over an ongoing drought, which is the worst the Middle Eastern country has faced in decades.
In Tehran, water service at homes of its 10 million inhabitants will regularly go out for hours, the Associated Press reported.
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