Protesters burn Khamenei protrait as Iran flips | Political News
Protestors burned images of Ayatollah Ali Khamenei during a rally held in Solidarity with Iran’s Uprising, organised by The National Council of Resistance of Iran, amid fears the Iranian regime triggered an internet “kill switch.”
A crackdown on nationwide protests in Iran has killed at least 538 people and even more are feared dead, activists said Sunday, while Tehran warned that the U.S. military and Israel would be “legitimate targets” if America uses force to protect demonstrators.
Over 10,600 people have been detained over the two weeks of protests, said the U.S.-based Human Rights Activists News Agency, which has been accurate in previous rounds of unrest in Iran in recent years. It relies on supporters in Iran to cross-check information. It said of those killed, 490 were protesters and 48 were members of security forces.
With the internet down in Iran and phone lines cut off, gauging the demonstrations from abroad has grown more difficult. The Associated Press has been unable to independently assess the toll.
Cybersecurity expert NetBlocks CEO Alp Toker told Fox News Digital, “This is Iran’s war against its own population using digital means.
“This was a piecemeal measure that eventually encompassed the entire country, with the government willing to use this kind of measure for an extended period of time.
“There would be an attempt by the regime to cover up crimes that it may have committed, so this blackout could potentially last for days or weeks.”
The Iranian government has not offered overall casualty figures for the demonstrations.
Those abroad fear the information blackout is emboldening hard-liners within Iran’s security services to launch a bloody crackdown. Protesters flooded the streets in the country’s capital and its second-largest city again on Sunday morning.
U.S. President Trump has offered support for the protesters, saying on social media that “Iran is looking at FREEDOM, perhaps like never before. The USA stands ready to help!!!”
Trump and his national security team have been weighing a range of potential responses against Iran including cyberattacks and direct strikes by either U.S. or Israel, according to two people familiar with internal White House discussions who were not authorized to comment publicly and spoke on condition of anonymity.
The White House, which did not immediately respond to a request for comment, has not indicated it has made any decisions. The massive ongoing U.S. military deployment to the Caribbean has created another factor that the Pentagon and Trump’s national security planners must consider.
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