Despite the internet access restrictions imposed in the country, video recordings from the protest sites continue to emerge, presumably transmitted via Starlink satellite communication. The footage captures large-scale riots in Tehran, where residential buildings and religious institutions, such as the Al-Rasul mosque in the north of the capital, are burning.
Demonstrators in the Saadat Abad area are shouting slogans against Iran's Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei, while fires are observed in the surroundings. There are also reports of residential buildings igniting in the Narmak area in northeastern Tehran, where gunshots and screams can be heard.
According to the Associated Press, protests have also spread to other cities, including Mashhad, Tabriz, and Qom. Emigrant TV channels from Iran are publishing videos showing law enforcement using force.
The human rights organization Iran Human Rights (IHRNGO) reports hundreds of injuries, and the actual number of fatalities may significantly exceed previously announced figures. Time magazine reports that, according to one doctor in Tehran, at least 217 victims among the demonstrators have been registered in just six hospitals in the capital, most of whom were killed by live ammunition. These figures have not yet been independently verified.
Earlier, Ali Khamenei called on security forces to respond harshly to the protests, and the head of Iran's judiciary, Gholam-Hossein Mohseni-Ejei, stated that participants in the protests would be punished "strictly and without legal leniency."
