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 raging through the streets of 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, Reuters reported.

The unrest has not mobilised as many layers of society as other bouts of political, economic or human rights protest in the past decade and a half, but dozens are reported dead and the authorities look more vulnerable because of 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 currency losing half its value against the dollar last year and inflation topping 40% in December, they have morphed to include slogans aimed directly at the authorities.

Iran’s top judge warned protesters on Wednesday there would be “no leniency for those who help the enemy against the Islamic Republic”, while accusing Israel and the U.S. of pursuing hybrid methods to disrupt the country, Reuters reported.

Tehranremains under international pressure with U.S. President Donald Trump threatening to come to the aid of protesters if security forces fire on them, seven months after Israeli and U.S. forces bombed Iranian nuclear sites in a 12-day war.

Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei has vowed not to “yield to the enemy”.

The current protests, the biggest wave of dissent in three years, began last month in Tehran’s Grand Bazaar by shopkeepers condemning the currency’s free fall. Unrest has since spread nationwide amid deepening distress over economic hardships, including rocketing inflation driven by mismanagement and Western sanctions, and curbs on political and social freedoms.

“Following announcements by Israel and the U.S. president, there is no excuse for those coming to the streets for riots and unrest, Chief Justice Gholamhossein Mohseni Ejei, the head of Iran’s judiciary, was quoted as saying by state media.

“From now on, there will be no leniency for whoever helps the enemy against the Islamic Republic and the calm of the people,” Ejei said.

At least 27 people have been killed and more than 1,500 arrested in Iran in the first 10 days of protests, with the west of the country seeing the highest number of casualties according to Kurdish-Iranian rights group Hengaw.

HRANA, a network of human rights activists, has reported a higher death toll of at least 36 people as well as the arrest of at least 2,076 people.

Reuters has not been able to independently verify the numbers of casualties or details of disturbances reported by Iranian media and rights groups.

Iranian authorities have not given a death toll for protesters, but have said at least two members of the security services have died and more than a dozen have been injured.

Iran’s western provinces – which are economically marginalised and are heavily policed due to past outbreaks of unrest and their strategic location for national defence – have witnessed the most violent protests and repression lately, read the report.

Demonstrators took to the streets again overnight in the western province of Ilam and disturbances erupted, Hengaw said.

It has counted at least 20 demonstrators killed since late December in the provinces of Ilam, Lorestan, Kermanshah, Fars, Chaharmahal and Bakhtiari, and Hamedan.

“During the funeral of two people in Malekshahi on Tuesday, a number of attendees began chanting harsh, anti-system slogans,” said Fars, a news agency affiliated with Iran’s Revolutionary Guards.

After the funeral, Fars said, “about 100 mourners went into the city and trashed three banks … Some started shooting at the police trying to disperse them”.

In Abdanan, a city in southwestern Ilam province, a large crowd gathered late on Tuesday and chanted slogans against Khamenei that could be heard in a video shared on a Telegram channel called Nistemanijoan with over 180,000 followers.

The semi-official Mehr news agency said protesters had stormed a food store and emptied bags of rice, which has been affected by galloping inflation that has made ordinary staples increasingly unaffordable for many Iranians.

Reza Pahlavi, exiled son of Iran’s late Shah toppled in the 1979 Islamic Revolution, has urged Iranian security forces to side with the people and called for more protests.

“In these decisive moments, I expect you to return to the embrace of the nation and to use your weapons not to fire at people, but to protect them,” the last heir to Iran’s defunct monarchy said in a video posted on X.

Pahlavi, 65, has lived abroad for over four decades since the U.S.-backed Shah Mohammad Reza Pahlavi was overthrown in an uprising.

Opposition to Iran’s clerical establishment is atomised, with no broadly recognised leader. It remains unclear how much support Pahlavi has on the ground, but there have been some pro-Pahlavi slogans in demonstrations, Reuters reported.

At least 16 people have been killed during a week of unrest in Iran, rights groups said on Sunday, as protests over soaring inflation spread across the country, sparking violent clashes between demonstrators and security forces, Reuters reported.

Deaths and arrests have been reported through the week both by state media and rights groups, though the figures differ. Reuters has not been able to independently verify the numbers.

The protests are the biggest in three years. Senior figures have struck a softer tone than in some previous bouts of unrest, at a moment of vulnerability for the Islamic Republic with the economy in tatters and international pressure building.

President Masoud Pezeshkian told the Interior Ministry to take a “kind and responsible” approach toward protesters, according to remarks published by state media, saying “society cannot be convinced or calmed by forceful approaches”.

That language is the most conciliatory yet adopted by Iranian authorities, who have this week acknowledged economic pain and promised dialogue even as security forces cracked down on public dissent in the streets.

U.S. President Donald Trump has threatened to come to the protesters’ aid if they face violence, saying on Friday “we are locked and loaded and ready to go”, without specifying what actions he was considering.

That warning prompted threats of retaliation against U.S. forces in the region from senior Iranian officials. Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei said Iran “will not yield to the enemy”.

Kurdish rights group Hengaw reported that at least 17 people had been killed since the start of the protests. HRANA, a network of rights activists, said at least 16 people had been killed and 582 arrested.

Iran’s police chief Ahmad-Reza Radan told state media that security forces had been targeting protest leaders for arrest over the previous two days, saying “a big number of leaders on the virtual space have been detained”.

Police said 40 people had been arrested in the capital Tehran alone over what they called “fake posts” on protests aimed at disturbing public opinion, read the report.

The most intense clashes have been reported in western parts of Iran but there have also been protests and clashes between demonstrators and police in Tehran, in central areas, and in the southern Baluchistan province.

Late on Saturday, the governor of Qom, the conservative centre of Iran’s Shi’ite Muslim clerical establishment, said two people had been killed there in unrest, adding that one of them had died when an explosive device he made blew up prematurely.

HRANA and the state-affiliated Tasnim news agency reported that authorities had detained the administrator of online accounts urging protests.

Protests began a week ago among bazaar traders and shopkeepers before spreading to university students and then provincial cities, where some protesters have been chanting against Iran’s clerical rulers.

Iran has faced inflation above 36% since the start of its year in March and the rial currency has lost around half its value against the dollar, causing hardship for many people.

International sanctions over Iran’s nuclear programme have been reimposed, the government has struggled to provide water and electricity across the country through the year, and global financial bodies predict a recession in 2026, Reuters reported.

Khamenei said on Saturday that although authorities would talk to protesters, “rioters should be put in their place”.

Speaking on Sunday, Vice President Mohammadreza Aref said the government acknowledged the country faced shortcomings while warning that some people were seeking to exploit the protests.

“We expect the youth not to fall into the trap of the enemies,” Aref said in comments carried by state media.