Iran says over 100 officers killed as protesters defy government crackdown

Parliament speaker warns US against any attack after Trump threatens military strikes amid nationwide protests.

Human rights groups have urged restraint amid reports of protest-related casualties and mass arrests [Screengrab/Al Jazeera]

Iran’s state media say dozens of members of the security forces have been killed during protests against an economic crisis, as the parliament speaker warns the United States and Israel of retaliatory strikes if Washington attacks the country.

State television said on Sunday that 30 members of the police and security forces were killed in Isfahan province and six others in Kermanshah in western Iran in the latest riots.

The semiofficial Tasnim news agency reported that 109 security personnel had been killed in the protests across the country.

The Iranian Red Crescent Society, meanwhile, said a staff member died during an attack on one of its relief buildings in Gorgan, the capital of Golestan province.

State media also reported that a mosque was set on fire in Mashhad in eastern Iran on Saturday night.

The casualty figures were reported as Iranian authorities stepped up efforts to quell the country’s largest protests in years, which have seen thousands of people take to the streets in anger over the soaring cost of living and inflation.

The Ministry of Interior said the “riots” are gradually subsiding, while the attorney general has warned that those involved in the unrest could face the death penalty.

On Saturday, Ali Larijani, a top security official, accused some demonstrators of “killing people or burning some people, which is very similar to what ISIS does”, referring to the armed group ISIL.

Hassan Ahmadian, an academic at Tehran University, told Al Jazeera that the demonstrations that started two weeks ago turned violent on Thursday, calling it “one of the scariest days in Iran, including in Tehran”.

“In the past two days, we saw the shrinking of those events because, of course, there are clashes and confrontations with those who resort to violence,” he said.

“People also started going away from those kinds of violent activities,” the academic added.

“The majority of Iranians are not happy with the economics in Iran, but a majority of them are not happy with violence as well,” Ahmadian noted.

Meanwhile, Iran’s President Masoud Pezeshkian addressed economic plans and “people’s demands” in an interview on Sunday, according to state TV.

Pezeshkian ⁠said ​in the interview ‍that the US and Israel ⁠want to “sow chaos and disorder” ​in ‌Iran by ordering “riots” and called ‌upon Iranians ‌to ⁠distance themselves from “rioters and ‌terrorists”.

Human rights groups have urged restraint amid reports of protest-related casualties and mass arrests.

The Norway-based NGO Iran Human Rights said at least 51 protesters, including nine children, have been killed by security forces, and hundreds more have been injured.

Opposition activists say the death toll is higher and it includes dozens of protesters.

Threats and counterthreats

Speaking in parliament on Sunday after threats of military strikes by US President Donald Trump if Iranian authorities kill protesters, Speaker Mohammad Baqer Qalibaf warned the US against “a miscalculation”.

“Let us be clear, in the case of an attack on ‍Iran, the occupied territories [Israel] as well as all US bases and ships will be our legitimate target,” said Qalibaf, a former commander in the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC).

Iran faced a 12-day war with Israel and the US last year after Israel suddenly attacked in June. The country’s nuclear facilities were bombed by the US during the conflict. Hundreds of civilians, military commanders and scientists were killed in the attacks. Iran retaliated with hundreds of ballistic missiles against Israeli cities. The Israeli death toll stood at 28.

The biggest antigovernment demonstrations in years have been prompted by an economic crisis fuelled by crippling Western sanctions.

The demonstrations, which began in late December, are the largest in Iran since a 2022-23 protest movement spurred by the death in custody of Mahsa Amini, who had been arrested for allegedly violating the country’s strict dress code for women.

Reporting from Tehran, Al Jazeera’s Tohid Asadi said Qalibaf’s words are “a new level of escalation, at least rhetorically”.

Some lawmakers reportedly rushed the dais in parliament, shouting: “Death to America!”

Asadi said the authorities are “trying to draw a line between protesters and what they call rioters, or what Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei came out to call saboteurs”.

“They are saying that they understand the situation and complexities related to the economic difficulties people are facing,” he said, adding that Qalibaf recognised the right of people to take part in protests in his remarks.

Trump said on Saturday that the US is “ready to help” as protesters in Iran faced an intensifying crackdown.

“Iran is looking at FREEDOM, perhaps like never before. The USA stands ready to help!!!” Trump said in a post on his Truth Social platform without elaborating.

His comments came a day after he said Iran was in “big trouble” and again warned that he could order strikes.

“That doesn’t mean boots on the ground, but it means hitting them very, very hard – where it hurts,” the US president said.

Meanwhile, a nationwide blackout of the internet in Iran remains in place and has now lasted more than 60 hours, according to the monitor NetBlocks.

“The censorship measure presents a direct threat to the safety and wellbeing of Iranians at a key moment for the country’s future,” it said on Sunday.

Warning from army

Iran’s police chief, Ahmad-Reza Rada, was quoted as saying by state media on Sunday that the level of confrontation with rioters has been stepped up.

The Iranian army said in a statement on Saturday that it would defend the country’s “national interests” as it accused Israel and “hostile terrorist groups” of seeking to “undermine the country’s public security” as the protest movement rapidly grew.

“The Army, under the command of the Supreme Commander-in-Chief, together with other armed forces, in addition to monitoring enemy movements in the region, will resolutely protect and safeguard national interests, the country’s strategic infrastructure, and public property,” it said.

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