<div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>European leaders urged </span><a href="https://www.9news.com.au/iran" rel="" target="" title="Iran "><span>Iran </span></a><span>to allow its citizens to demonstrate without reprisal after Tehran signalled security forces would crack down on the protesters whom US President </span><a href="https://www.9news.com.au/donald-trump" rel="" target="" title="Donald Trump"><span>Donald Trump</span></a><span> has pledged to support.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>At least 62 people have been killed in the protests that began in late December over Iran's ailing economy and have morphed into the most significant challenge to the government in years.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><a href="https://www.9news.com.au/iran" rel="" target="" title="Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei"><span>Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei</span></a><span> dismissed Trump as having hands "stained with the blood of Iranians" as his supporters shouted "Death to America!" in footage aired by Iranian state television. State media later referred to the demonstrators as "terrorists," setting the stage for a violent crackdown as in other protests in recent years.</span></div></div><div><div id="adspot-mobile-medium"></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><strong><span>READ MORE: </span></strong><a href="https://www.9news.com.au/world/venezuela-donald-trump-cancelled-second-wave-of-attacks-on-venezuela-due-to-country-cooperation/ca48aeb1-c951-462d-965e-ee989db2a518" rel="" target="" title="Trump says he has cancelled a 'second wave' of attacks on Venezuela"><strong><span>Trump says he has cancelled a 'second wave' of attacks on Venezuela</span></strong></a><strong></strong></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>Protesters are "ruining their own streets ... in order to please the president of the United States," the 86-year-old Khamenei said to a crowd at his compound in Tehran. "Because he said that he would come to their aid. He should pay attention to the state of his own country instead."</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>Iran's judiciary chief Gholamhossein Mohseni-Ejei separately vowed that punishment for protesters "will be decisive, maximum and without any legal leniency."</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>Late Friday, </span><a href="https://www.9news.com.au/germany" rel="" target="" title="German Chancellor Friedrich Merz"><span>German Chancellor Friedrich Merz</span></a><span>, </span><a href="https://www.9news.com.au/uk" rel="" target="" title="British Prime Minister Keir Starmer"><span>British Prime Minister Keir Starmer</span></a><span> and </span><a href="https://www.9news.com.au/france" rel="" target="" title="French President Emmanuel Macron"><span>French President Emmanuel Macron</span></a><span> issued a joint statement condemning reported deadly violence against the protesters, and urged Iran to allow its citizens to express themselves without fear of reprisal. The Associated Press could not independently confirm local media reports that state forces had opened fire on protesters in Tehran on Friday.</span></div></div><div><div class="OUTBRAIN" data-reactroot="" data-src="//www.9news.com.au/world/iran-supreme-leader-signals-upcoming-crackdown-on-protesters-ruining-their-own-streets-for-trump/1a396997-46cd-4486-99e8-243255f79018" data-widget-id="AR_5"></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>There was no immediate response from Washington, though Trump has repeatedly pledged to strike Iran if protesters are killed, a threat that has taken on greater significance after the US military raid that seized Venezuela's former politician Nicolás Maduro.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><h3><span>Internet cut off</span></h3></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>Despite Iran's theocracy cutting off the nation from the internet and international telephone calls, short online videos shared by activists purported to show protesters chanting against Iran's government around bonfires as debris littered the streets in the capital, Tehran, and other areas into Friday morning.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>Iranian state media alleged "terrorist agents" of the US and Israel set fires and sparked violence. It also said there were "casualties," without elaborating.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>The full scope of the demonstrations that began December 28 couldn't be immediately determined due to the communications blackout.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>The protests also represented the first test of whether the Iranian public could be swayed by Crown Prince Reza Pahlavi, whose fatally ill father fled Iran just before the country's 1979 Islamic Revolution. Pahlavi, who called for the protests Thursday night, similarly has called for demonstrations at 8pm Friday.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><strong><span>READ MORE: </span></strong><a href="https://www.9news.com.au/world/top-diplomats-from-greenland-and-denmark-met-with-white-house-officials-as-trump-pushes-for-ownership/2df7db23-eacb-4180-8d76-cc227c98e921" rel="" target="" title="Greenland and Denmark diplomats meet with White House officials"><strong><span>Greenland and Denmark diplomats meet with White House officials</span></strong></a><strong></strong></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>Demonstrations have included cries in support of the shah, something that could bring a death sentence in the past but now underlines the anger fuelling the protests that began over Iran's ailing economy.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>So far, violence around the demonstrations has killed at least 62 people while more than 2,300 others have been detained, said the US-based Human Rights Activists News Agency.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>"What turned the tide of the protests was former Crown Prince Reza Pahlavi's calls for Iranians to take to the streets at 8pm on Thursday and Friday," said Holly Dagres, a senior fellow at the Washington Institute for Near East Policy. "Per social media posts, it became clear that Iranians had delivered and were taking the call seriously to protest in order to oust the Islamic Republic."</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>"This is exactly why the internet was shut down: to prevent the world from seeing the protests. Unfortunately, it also likely provided cover for security forces to kill protesters."</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><h3><span>Thursday night protests preceded internet shutdown</span></h3></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>When the clock struck 8pm Thursday, neighbourhoods across Tehran erupted in chanting, witnesses said. The chants included "Death to the dictator!" and "Death to the Islamic Republic!" Others praised the shah, shouting: "This is the last battle! Pahlavi will return!" Thousands could be seen on the streets before all communication to Iran cut out.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>On Friday, Pahlavi called on Trump to help the protesters, saying Khamenei "wants to use this blackout to murder these young heroes."</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>"You have proven and I know you are a man of peace and a man of your word," he said in a statement. "Please be prepared to intervene to help the people of Iran."</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>The White House did not immediately respond to a request for comment on Pahlavi's appeal to Trump.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><strong><span>READ MORE: </span></strong><a href="https://www.9news.com.au/national/usa-portland-shooting-federal-agents-injure-two-people-inside-car-day-after-minneapolis-shooting/ca4c5131-584d-4db3-9ba1-f28d1eccdb53" target="_blank" title=""><strong><span>US federal immigration agents shoot and injure two people in car</span></strong></a></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>Pahlavi had said he would offer further plans depending on the response to his call. His support of and from Israel has drawn criticism in the past — particularly after the 12-day war Israel waged on Iran in June. Demonstrators have shouted in support of the shah in some demonstrations, but it isn't clear whether that's support for Pahlavi himself or a desire to return to a time before the 1979 Islamic Revolution.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>The internet cut also appears to have taken Iran's state-run and semiofficial news agencies offline. The state TV acknowledgement at 8am Friday represented the first official word about the demonstrations.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>State TV claimed the protests were violent and caused casualties, but did not offer nationwide figures. It said the protests saw "people's private cars, motorcycles, public places such as the metro, fire trucks and buses set on fire." State TV later reported that violence overnight killed six people in Hamedan, some 310 kilometres (193 miles) southwest of Tehran, and two security force members in Qom, 125 kilometres (78 miles) south of the capital.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>The European Union and Germany condemned the violence targeting demonstrators as new protests were reported in Zahedan in Iran's restive southwestern Sistan and Baluchestan province.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><h3><span>Trump renews threat over protester deaths</span></h3></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>Iran has faced rounds of nationwide protests in recent years. As sanctions tightened and Iran struggled after the 12-day war, its rial currency collapsed in December, reaching 2.1 million to $1. Protests began soon after, with demonstrators chanting against Iran's theocracy.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>It remains unclear why Iranian officials have yet to crack down harder on the demonstrators. Trump warned last week that if Tehran "violently kills peaceful protesters," America "will come to their rescue."</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>In an interview with talk show host Hugh Hewitt aired Thursday, Trump reiterated his pledge.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>Iran has "been told very strongly, even more strongly than I'm speaking to you right now, that if they do that, they're going to have to pay hell," Trump said.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>He demurred when asked if he'd meet with Pahlavi.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>"I'm not sure that it would be appropriate at this point to do that as president," Trump said. "I think that we should let everybody go out there, and we see who emerges."</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>Speaking in an interview with Sean Hannity aired Thursday night on Fox News, Trump went as far as to suggest Khamenei may want to leave Iran.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>"He's looking to go someplace," Trump said. "It's getting very bad."</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><a href="https://www.9news.com.au/national/how-to-follow-9news-digital/29855bb1-ad3d-4c38-bc25-3cb52af1216f"><em><strong><span>DOWNLOAD THE 9NEWS APP</span></strong></em></a><em><strong><span>: Stay across all the latest in breaking news, sport, politics and the weather via our news app and get notifications sent straight to your smartphone. Available on the</span></strong></em><span> </span><a href="https://apps.apple.com/au/app/9news/id1010533727"><em><strong><span>Apple App Store</span></strong></em></a><span> </span><em><strong><span>and</span></strong></em><span> </span><a href="https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=nineNewsAlerts.nine.com&amp;hl=en_AU&amp;pli=1"><em><strong><span>Google Play</span></strong></em></a><em><strong><span>.</span></strong></em></div></div>