Iran protests enter 13th night; death toll exceeds 50 amid national internet blackout

More than 50 protesters have died in Iran as nationwide anti-regime demonstrations entered their 13th night, accompanied by a complete national internet blackout, according to security experts and organisations.

The security monitor Netblocks reported today that the “national-scale internet interruption” imposed by the Iranian authorities has lasted over 24 hours, with connectivity dropping to just one per cent of usual levels.

Videos and testimonies circulating on social media document extensive clashes between demonstrators and security forces, including the burning of public buildings and incidents of fire at mosques. These images underscore the intensity and duration of the civil unrest.

BREAKING:

Huge masses of anti-regime protesters have taken control of Iran’s second-largest city Mashhad.

They are chanting: “Long Live the Shah” @PahlaviReza pic.twitter.com/esCWUbDVgB

— Visegrád 24 (@visegrad24) January 9, 2026

The Tehran regime has attempted to intensify its crackdown. Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei addressed the nation on state media, urging for national unity and accusing a portion of the protesters of being operatives of foreign centres, “primarily the United States.”

Characterising the damage to public buildings as “terrorist acts,” Khamenei stressed that security authorities would impose order on the country. Separately, the head of the Iranian Supreme Court, Gholamhossein Mohseni-Ejei, promised that the punishment for demonstrators “will be decisive, maximum and without any legal leniency.”

The Norwegian-based NGO Iran Human Rights stated: “At least 51 demonstrators, including nine children under the age of 18, were killed and hundreds of others injured during the first 13 days of the dissent movement across Iran.”

The son of the former Shah of Iran, and a figure in the exiled opposition, Reza Pahlavi, issued an “urgent” plea to US President Donald Trump today, calling for intervention without delay.