Regional
Iran authorities signal intensified crackdown as unrest grows
Iran’s authorities indicated on Saturday they could intensify their crackdown on the biggest anti-government demonstrations in years, with the Revolutionary Guards blaming unrest on terrorists and vowing to safeguard the governing system.
U.S. President Donald Trump, who has repeatedly threatened to intervene in recent days, posted on social media on Saturday: “Iran is looking at FREEDOM, perhaps like never before. The USA stands ready to help!!!”
There were fresh reports of violence across Iran, although an internet blackout made it difficult to assess the full extent of unrest, according to Reuters.
After nightfall on Saturday, new videos posted online purported to show fresh protests in a number of neighbourhoods in the capital Tehran and several cities, including Rasht in the north, Tabriz in the northwest and Shiraz and Kerman in the south. Reuters could not immediately verify the latest videos.
The exiled son of Iran’s last shah, who has emerged as a prominent voice in the fragmented opposition, made his strongest call yet for the protests to broaden into a revolt to topple the clerical rulers.
State media said a municipal building was set on fire in Karaj, west of Tehran, and blamed “rioters”. State TV broadcast footage of funerals of members of the security forces it said were killed in protests in the cities of Shiraz, Qom and Hamedan.
Footage posted on Friday on social media showed large crowds gathered in Tehran and fires lit in the street. In one video verified by Reuters showing a nighttime protest in Tehran’s Saadatabad district, a man is heard saying the crowd had taken over the area.
“The crowd is coming. ‘Death to the dictator’, ‘Death to Khamenei’,” he said, referring to Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.
Protests have spread across Iran since December 28, beginning in response to soaring inflation, and quickly turning political with protesters demanding an end to clerical rule. Authorities accuse the U.S. and Israel of fomenting unrest.
A senior U.S. intelligence official described the situation as an “endurance game”. The opposition was trying to keep up pressure until key government figures either flee or switch sides, while the authorities were trying to sow enough fear to clear the streets without giving the United States justification to intervene, the official said.
Iranian rights group HRANA says at least 50 protesters and 15 security personnel have been killed, and some 2,300 arrested.
ARMY SAYS ‘TERRORIST GROUPS’ SEEK TO UNDERMINE SECURITY
A witness in western Iran reached by phone said the Revolutionary Guards (IRGC) were deployed and opening fire in the area from which the witness was speaking, declining to be identified for safety.
The semi-official Tasnim news agency reported the arrest of 100 “armed rioters” in the town of Baharestan near Tehran.
In a statement broadcast by state TV, the IRGC – an elite force which has suppressed previous bouts of unrest – accused “terrorists” of targeting military and law enforcement bases over the past two nights. It said several citizens and security personnel had been killed and public and private property set on fire.
Safeguarding the achievements of the Islamic revolution and maintaining security was a “red line”, it added.
The regular military also issued a statement saying it would “protect and safeguard national interests, the country’s strategic infrastructure, and public property”.
PAHLAVI SAYS GOAL IS TO PREPARE TO ‘SEIZE CITY CENTRES’
In a video posted on X, U.S.-based Reza Pahlavi, 65, whose father was toppled as Iran’s shah in the 1979 revolution, said the Islamic Republic would be brought “to its knees”. He called for people to seize the centres of their towns, and said he was preparing to return soon to Iran.
“Our goal is no longer merely to come into the streets; the goal is to prepare to seize city centres and hold them,” he said.
A doctor in northwestern Iran said that since Friday, large numbers of injured protesters had been brought to hospitals. Some were badly beaten, suffering head injuries and broken legs and arms, as well as deep cuts.
At least 20 people in one hospital had been shot with live ammunition, five of whom later died.
Trump said on Thursday he was not inclined to meet Pahlavi, a sign that he was waiting to see how the crisis plays out before backing an opposition leader.
Iran’s rulers have weathered repeated bouts of unrest, including student protests in 1999, over a disputed election in 2009, against economic hardships in 2019, and in 2022 over the death in custody of a woman accused of violating dress codes.
Trump, who joined Israel to strike Iran’s nuclear sites last summer, has included Iran in lists of places in which he could intervene since sending forces to seize the president of Venezuela a week ago. On Friday, in a warning to Iran’s leaders, he said: “You better not start shooting because we’ll start shooting too.”
Some protesters on the streets have shouted slogans in support of Pahlavi, such as “Long live the shah”, although most chants have called for an end to rule by the clerics or demanded action to fix the economy.
On Friday, Khamenei accused protesters of acting on behalf of Trump, saying rioters were attacking public properties and warning that Tehran would not tolerate people acting as “mercenaries for foreigners”.
Regional
Iran says outcome of Israeli elections ‘makes no difference’
Tuesday’s legislative elections will take place amid mounting threats by Israel and the United States to renew attacks on Iran after they launched their war in late February.
Iran’s foreign ministry said Monday that the outcome of the Israeli elections in which Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is facing a tight race will make “no difference”, AFP reported.
“It makes no difference to us who, in these elections, takes the helm of a regime that has brought nothing but violence and massacres to our region,” said ministry spokesman Esmaeil Baqaei in a weekly press briefing.
Tuesday’s legislative elections will take place amid mounting threats by Israel and the United States to renew attacks on Iran after they launched their war in late February.
Netanyahu has in recent days repeatedly said the only way to remove the threat posed by Iran is to topple its government.
On Sunday, he told Israel’s Channel 14 that he had “instructed the Mossad and the IDF to overthrow the Iranian regime”.
Baqaei dismissed Netanyahu’s remarks as “empty threats” and a “sign of desperation”.
Regional
Officials from Mecca pact countries to meet Iranian officials in Tehran
Pakistan’s military media wing and Turkey’s Foreign Ministry did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
Top officials from Mecca Pact countries Saudi Arabia, Turkey and Pakistan are to meet Iran’s leaders in Tehran on Monday in their first high-level contact since the kingdom became a pressure point in the wider Iran conflict, Reuters reported.
Saudi Arabia will be represented by Defence Minister Prince Khalid bin Salman, Pakistan by army chief Field Marshal Asim Munir, and Turkey by intelligence chief Ibrahim Kalin, Saudi and Iranian officials said.
Attacks by Yemen’s Iran-aligned Houthis have spiralled in recent weeks and rhetoric between Washington and Tehran has grown more heated. Both countries have also drawn up plans to restart the wider war, possibly after the US midterm elections on November 3.
Monday’s planned talks will be the first high-level contact between Iran and all members of the three-nation bloc since Saudi Arabia was drawn deeper into the conflict. Under the Mecca Joint Defence Agreement signed in August, an armed attack on one member is considered an attack on all.
Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesperson Esmaeil Baghaei said on Monday discussions on regional security would include “Israel’s expansionist policies, developments in the Palestinian territories and Lebanon, and the repercussions of US and Israeli military action against Iran.”
Baghaei said the meeting, proposed during a visit by Munir to Tehran last week, could be a first step towards establishing regional security mechanisms based on the interests of countries in the region.
Qatari mediators met Iranian officials in Tehran on Sunday in a push to de-escalate regional tensions, Reuters reported. Qatar has, for months, played a mediating role between Tehran and Washington.
A senior Iranian official said the meeting was initiated by Pakistan, during Munir’s visit to Tehran, as he met Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian and other senior officials. During the visit, Iranian officials told him there would be no talks with Washington until Tehran’s demands were met, according to Iranian media.
Earlier mediation efforts involving both Pakistan and Qatar helped produce an interim peace agreement in June, but the deal quickly unravelled as fighting between Iran and the United States resumed weeks later.
The deputy secretary of Iran’s top security body, Ali Baqeri-Kani, told state TV that Saudi Defence Minister Prince Khalid, Pakistan’s Munir and Turkish intelligence chief Ibrahim Kalin would visit Tehran for consultations with Iran’s Supreme National Security Council on regional security.
Saudi Deputy Minister for Public Diplomacy Rayed Krimly said the meeting is part of ongoing efforts by the Mecca Pact countries to de-escalate the current crisis, promote diplomatic solutions, and support mediation efforts led by Qatar and Pakistan.”The visit also underscores the pivotal role of the Mecca Pact states in fostering regional security and stability, and their commitment to working with all nations in the region toward achieving this goal,” Krimly posted on X.
Pakistan’s military media wing and Turkey’s Foreign Ministry did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
Saudi Arabia intercepted another wave of missiles and drones on Sunday as fighting with the Houthis continued unabated.
Ministers from the Mecca Pact countries held an emergency meeting in Riyadh earlier this month and agreed to ensure the “rapid deployment” of military forces and capabilities in Saudi Arabia.
The Houthi attacks have become an increasingly destabilising element in the US-Israeli conflict with Iran, turning US ally Saudi Arabia into a pressure point in the wider war.
Tensions between Washington and Tehran have sharpened in recent days. President Donald Trump said on Friday the US may carry out another military operation against Iran and Iran’s leaders have said that a renewed US military campaign would be met with a stronger response than before.
Iranian security officials have told Reuters that Tehran has drawn up detailed plans to hit Gulf undersea cables if the United States and Israel attack again. A US intelligence memo this week warned that Iranian plots against American personnel had reached “advanced stages”.
The war, now nearly eight months old, has weighed on President Donald Trump’s approval ratings ahead of the midterms.
The Mecca agreement’s first article says the parties shall use “all necessary means” to eliminate threats to one another’s territorial integrity, sovereignty or internationally recognised borders, according to a text seen by Reuters.
Efforts by Turkey’s parliament to ratify the agreement began last week and are still underway, while Pakistan approved the pact last week.
Regional
Iran tells Pakistan army chief no talks with Washington until demands are met
The demands include ending a US blockade on its ports, the lifting of sanctions on its oil exports as well as ending hostilities on all regional fronts.
Iran told Pakistan’s army chief on Tuesday that there would be no talks with Washington until Tehran’s demands were met, Iranian media reported, underscoring its hardening stance despite mediation efforts by key interlocutor Pakistan.
President Masoud Pezeshkian discussed mediation efforts and regional developments with Field Marshal Asim Munir in Tehran, according to Nournews.
Pakistan is a key intermediary between the United States and Iran. Earlier mediation efforts helped produce an interim peace agreement in June, but the Islamabad Memorandum quickly unravelled as fighting between Iran and the US resumed weeks after.
Munir also met Iranian parliament speaker Mohammad Baqer Qalibaf, who said Washington could not regain Tehran’s trust until it fulfilled seven conditions Iran set last month for reopening the Strait of Hormuz, according to an Iranian readout of the meeting.
The demands include ending a US blockade on its ports, the lifting of sanctions on its oil exports as well as ending hostilities on all regional fronts.
Iran’s security chief, Mohsen Rezaei, delivered a similar message during a separate meeting with Munir, saying there would be no talks with Washington until Tehran’s demands were met, according to Iranian media.
Rezaei also said all enriched nuclear materials would remain in Iran, reiterating Supreme Leader Ayatollah Mojtaba Khamenei’s position that near-weapons-grade uranium should not be shipped abroad.
US Vice President JD Vance said earlier this month that Iran must make a “meaningful” reduction in its uranium enrichment capacity to satisfy US demands and end the countries’ eight-month-old war.
Israel, the United States and other Western states have long accused Iran of seeking nuclear weapons, including pointing to its move to enrich uranium to 60%, far higher than needed for civilian uses and closer to the 90% needed for a weapon.
Iran denies seeking nuclear weapons.
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