Protests Continued Overnight in Iranian Cities

According to reports, protests on Friday continued in several cities across Iran, including Rasht, Isfahan, Ahvaz, Qom, Sari, Zahedan, and Qazvin after dark. In one video from Ahvaz, gunfire can be heard, and another video from the same night in Rasht shows clashes between security forces and the public. Some reports and images on social media indicate that gatherings began in Tehran's Enghelab Square and Kermanshah's Azadi Square early Saturday morning, as well as a heavy presence of security forces in the main squares of Tabriz. Following protests in several cities in Razavi Khorasan province on Thursday, another protest was held in Kermanshah on the morning of Friday, January 8. Additionally, protests occurred in various cities including Rasht, Isfahan, Qom, Sari, Quchan, Qazvin, and Ahvaz, with some continuing after dark. Slogans such as 'Death to Khamenei,' 'Long live Reza Shah,' 'What a mistake I made by revolting,' 'Death to the dictator,' 'Independence, freedom, Iranian Republic,' 'The nation begs, God provides,' 'You’ve made Islam a staircase, you’ve made the people miserable,' 'Today is a day of mourning, our rights are under your cloak today,' 'Neither Gaza nor Lebanon, my life is for Iran,' 'Leave Syria, think of us,' and 'Death to Hezbollah' were chanted during these gatherings. Protesters also shouted 'O King of Iran, return to Iran' and 'Iran without a king has no accounting,' and 'We don't want the Islamic Republic' in Qom on Friday night. According to videos shared on social media, security forces asked protesters not to gather, and some people protested against the security forces while continuing their gathering. In some videos, security forces clashed with protesters. Additionally, reports from some gatherings, including in Rasht, show that a number of Basij forces attacked protesters and arrested some individuals. Protests began on Thursday when a number of people from cities in Razavi Khorasan province, including Mashhad, Nishapur, and Kashmar, as well as Shahroud in Semnan province, took to the streets under the banner 'No to Price Increases,' and according to official statistics, 52 protesters were arrested in Mashhad alone. Following the protests against the government and economic conditions in various cities in Iran, U.S. President Donald Trump on Friday called on the Iranian government to respect the rights of the people, including the right to free speech, stating that the world is 'watching' the protests in Iran. No political group in Iran issued an official call for participation in the protests on Thursday in Razavi Khorasan province. Some opposition figures, including Prince Reza Pahlavi, the former crown prince of Iran, and Maryam Rajavi, a senior leader of the Mujahedin-e Khalq organization, welcomed these protests. Several Friday prayer leaders in Iran deemed the protests against price increases as 'justified,' while also labeling the protesters in Razavi Khorasan province on Thursday as 'American, Israeli, and anti-Islam,' claiming that the gathering 'under the pretext of price increases' was 'a new plot by the enemies to overthrow the regime.' However, Eshaq Jahangiri, the first vice president of Iran, implicitly attributed the Thursday gathering in Mashhad to government opponents, stating that 'those who initiate street movements will not be the ones to end them.' According to Mehr News Agency, Rasoul Sanaei Rad, the political deputy of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, on Friday evening in Shahroud referred to the recent protests, saying: 'After the defeat of ISIS, the arrogance, which sees its plans gone to waste, is trying to create a new sedition in Iran by raising the banner of monarchists.' In the rhetoric of the Islamic Republic, 'arrogance' refers to the United States and its allies. A meeting of the heads of the three branches of government was also scheduled for Saturday, but it was announced on Friday that this meeting has been postponed, with no explanation provided for the delay.