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Protests continued across Tehran and other parts of the country on Sunday, with security forces deployed in large numbers around the capital’s main bazaar and major shopping centers as demonstrations entered their eighth day.
Many shops in the bazaar in Tehran remained closed, while plainclothes security agents were reported in nearby streets, according to videos and information received by Iran International.
Videos showed crowds chanting slogans at security forces as tear gas was fired and motorcycle-mounted units were deployed along Jomhouri Street in Tehran.
Overnight protests were reported in dozens of cities, with demonstrations continuing in Tehran neighborhoods including Narmak, Naziabad, and Hafez Street, as well as in provincial cities such as Sangsar in Semnan province, Nurabad-e Mamasani in Fars province, Sari in Mazandaran province, and Malekshahi in Ilam province.
Labor, retiree, civil, and teachers’ organizations inside Iran also issued statements backing the protests, citing inflation, unemployment, and economic pressure.
Internet disruptions across parts of Iran
Internet access was reduced or effectively cut off in several parts of the country on Sunday, particularly in areas where protests were more intense.
Residents in cities including Asadabad in western Iran, Kermanshah, Dezful, Malekshahi, Malard, Marvdasht, Kuhdasht, Borazjan, Mashhad, Shiraz, and parts of Tehran reported severe disruptions, with some saying it took hours to send a single text message.
Opposition figures pay tribute to slain protestors
Iran International has verified the identities 16 protestors who have been killed during the protests.
Some sources have reported a higher number of fatalities. US-based human rights group, Human Rights Activists News Agency (HRANA), reported the deaths of at least 19 protestors on Sunday.
Iran International's investigations to verify reports regarding the identities and final number of those killed in cities including Azna, Marvdasht, Malekshahi, Hefshjan, and Farsan are still ongoing.
Iran’s exiled prince Reza Pahlavi paid tribute to the slain protesters, saying in a post on X that he honored their memory and vowed to hold those responsible to account.
“I honor and keep alive the memory and names of our compatriots who were killed in Iran’s national uprising,” Pahlavi said in a post on X.
Addressing the families of slain protestors, Pahlavi said: “On this irreversible path, I stand shoulder to shoulder with you.”
“I assure you that those who ordered and carried out these crimes will be identified and, without doubt, punished,” he added.
Addressing Iran’s Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei, he said: “By spilling the blood of the purest children of this land, you and your network have brought your own downfall closer. We will not back down and will continue until the complete destruction of your anti-Iranian regime.”
Komala Party Leader Abdullah Mohtadi on Sunday offered condolences to the families of slain protesters, and condemned what he described as a “major crime” by the Iran's Revolutionary Guards in Malekshahi, Ilam province.
"The great force of the popular movement will ultimately sweep away the apparatus of oppression and crime," he added in a post on X.
Internet access has been reduced or effectively cut off in parts of Iran since Saturday night, particularly in areas where protests have been more intense, according to messages received by Iran International.
The number of messages sent from inside Iran declined noticeably from Sunday afternoon, suggesting broader disruptions.
Users who were able to communicate from areas under restrictions reported spending hours trying to send even a single text message.
A resident of the western Iranian city of Asadabad said internet access in the city, where protests have been strong, was effectively cut off, preventing video uploads and making text messaging difficult
Similar accounts were received from several other cities, including Kermanshah, Dezful, Malekshahi, Malard, Marvdasht, Kuhdasht, Borazjan, Mashhad, Shiraz, and parts of Tehran.
A key feature of the restrictions appears to be their regional application, with areas experiencing higher levels of protest activity facing tighter internet limitations, including in Tehran where districts with more protests have seen more severe disruptions.
Iran’s exiled prince Reza Pahlavi paid tribute to protesters killed during nationwide protests in Iran, vowing to stand with their families and hold those responsible to account.
“I honor and keep alive the memory and names of our compatriots who were killed in Iran’s national uprising,” Pahlavi said in a post on X.
Addressing the families of slain protestors, Pahlavi said: “On this irreversible path, I stand shoulder to shoulder with you.”
“I assure you that those who ordered and carried out these crimes will be identified and, without doubt, punished,” he added.
Addressing Iran’s Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei, he said: “By spilling the blood of the purest children of this land, you and your network have brought your own downfall closer. We will not back down and will continue until the complete destruction of your anti-Iranian regime.”
Labor organizations, retirees, and civil groups said in a joint statement that Iranian society is at one of the most decisive moments in its contemporary history, expressing solidarity with ongoing nationwide protests.
The groups said demonstrations unfolding in the streets, along with strikes and protests across the country, are a continuation of the 2022 uprising sparked by the death in custody of 22-year-old Mahsa Amini following her arrest over an alleged hijab law violation.
“The current uprising has exposed institutionalized discrimination, systematic humiliation, overt repression, and structural poverty,” the statement said, adding that society is no longer willing to live under what it described as an unjust imposed order.
The statement was signed by the Retirees’ Union, the Kermanshah Electricity and Metal Association, Stop Executions, Justice Seekers, the Coordination Council for Protests of Contract Oil Workers, the Coordination Council for Protests of Non-Formal Oil Workers (Arkan-e Sales), the Coordination Council of Nurses’ Protests, and Neday-e Zanan-e Iran (Voice of Women of Iran).
A teachers’ trade association in the city of Islam Abad-e Gharb in western Iran issued a statement supporting nationwide protests, citing rising inflation, unemployment, and mounting economic pressure on households.
“In a society where poverty, unemployment, high prices and inflation have spread across people’s lives, and where governance, through misguided policies, has accelerated the rapid cycle of inflation, the heavy burden now weighs on various segments of society,” the association said.
It said rising living costs have reached levels that are “unbearable for many,” warning that the situation threatens family stability and has led to social consequences including unemployment, addiction, divorce, and suicide among young people.
“We believe the voice of the people is an echo of the real needs of society that must be heard and given a worthy response, not answered with violence, suppression, killing, and imprisonment,” the statement said.
The association said it supports what it described as the rightful protests of teachers, retirees, and other groups across the country and said its members would stand alongside them.
