Iran protests: Internet shutdown in effect amid demonstrations, at least 42 killed since late December

PROTESTS continued to rock Iran on Friday amid an internet shutdown and suspension of telephone services after the country's exiled Crown Prince Reza Pahlavi issued a call for demonstrations.

Chants calling for the death of Supreme Leader Syed Ali Hosseini Khamenei rang out on the streets of Tehran, reported AP, as protesters called for Pahlavi's return.

The current protests, the biggest wave of dissent in three years, began in late December 2025 in Tehran's Grand Bazaar, as shopkeepers demonstrated against the country's struggling economy and its currency's free fall.

Since the protests erupted on 28 December, 2025, at least 42 people have been killed and over 2,200 have been detained, as per the US-based Human Rights Activists News Agency.

US President Donald Trump said on Thursday that the US will strike 'very hard' if Iran starts killing protesters. Rights groups earlier accused Iranian security forces of shooting at protesters as the death toll mounted on Thursday from a crackdown on a movement sparked by anger over the rising cost of living that has now spread across the Islamic republic

While the Iranian government said that it will hold dialogue with protesters speaking out against the failing economy, it continued its crackdown on demonstrators, with at least 42 killed since 28 December 2025, when the protests began.

At least 2,200 people have also been detained, as per the US-based Human Rights Activists News Agency.

Iran saw a nationwide internet blackout on Thursday, which internet monitoring group NetBlocks said extended into Friday.

The blackout coincided with calls from abroad for more protests from Reza Pahlavi, the son of Iran's last shah who was toppled in the 1979 Islamic revolution.