Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei vowed defiance on Saturday as protests driven by soaring inflation and a collapsing currency spread across parts of the country, prompting a sharp security crackdown and drawing warnings from U.S. President Donald Trump.
In a recorded address broadcast on state media, Khamenei rejected any suggestion of compromise and signaled that authorities would respond forcefully to what he described as violent unrest.
“The Islamic Republic will not yield to the enemy,” Khamenei said in the message released on Saturday, addressing the nation amid days of demonstrations. While acknowledging public anger over economic hardship, he warned that “rioters should be put in their place.”
The protests, which began earlier this week, were triggered by a sharp rise in prices and the continued fall of Iran’s currency, the rial, compounding the impact of long-running international sanctions. Rights groups and activists say demonstrations have erupted in several cities, particularly in western and southern regions.
Deaths and arrests reported
State-affiliated media reported three deaths on Saturday, while human rights groups said more than 10 people have been killed nationwide since protests began on Sunday. Iranian news agencies Mehr and Fars said a member of the security forces and two demonstrators were killed in Malekshahi, a town in western Iran, after what they described as an attempt by armed protesters to storm a police station.
Authorities said at least two security personnel have died and more than a dozen others were injured in clashes. Meanwhile, Hengaw, a Kurdish rights organization, reported a sharp increase in detentions, saying it had identified 133 arrests by late Friday, up from 56 the previous day.
Videos circulating on social media appeared to show crowds marching in multiple cities and urging others to join them, chanting slogans such as, “We don’t want spectators: join us.” The footage could not be independently verified.
Mixed signals from leadership
Iranian officials have sought to draw a distinction between economic protests and what they call violent unrest. In his remarks, Khamenei acknowledged the grievances of market traders, or bazaaris, who have been hit hard by currency instability.
“The bazaaris were right. They are right to say they cannot do business in these conditions,” Khamenei said in the same recorded appearance. However, he drew a firm line between protesters and those he labeled rioters, saying dialogue would be limited to the former.
State television reported arrests across western and central Iran, as well as near Tehran, including individuals accused of producing petrol bombs and improvised weapons.
U.S. warning adds pressure
The unrest has unfolded against a backdrop of heightened regional and international pressure on Tehran. On Friday, Trump said the United States was “locked and loaded and ready to go,” without specifying what action Washington might take.
Trump made the remarks to reporters as protests escalated, following earlier U.S. and Israeli strikes on Iranian nuclear facilities and military targets last year. Those attacks, along with sanctions, have further strained Iran’s economy and exposed vulnerabilities within its leadership and security apparatus.
The current turmoil marks Iran’s most serious domestic challenge since mass nationwide protests in late 2022 following the death in custody of Mahsa Amini, a young Kurdish woman whose arrest by morality police sparked months of demonstrations.
Regional setbacks compound crisis
Iran’s leadership is also grappling with a series of regional reversals. Since the start of the Gaza war in 2023 involving its ally Hamas, Tehran has seen key partners weakened or removed. Israeli strikes severely damaged Hezbollah, while Iran’s longtime ally Bashar al-Assad was ousted in Syria.
Analysts say these developments, combined with economic collapse at home and rising public anger, have placed Iran’s leadership under rare and intense strain.
Despite the unrest, authorities insist they remain in control. State media have framed some of the violence as the work of infiltrators acting “in the name of protest,” while activists report continued clashes and detentions.
As night fell across Iran on Saturday, reports of sporadic demonstrations continued in several cities and districts of Tehran, underscoring the uncertain trajectory of a crisis that has revived memories of past nationwide uprisings — and raised new questions about how far the government is willing to go to contain dissent.
