Iran’s Capital In Flames As Leader Blames Trump For Fiery Protests

Iran’s capital descended into chaos as anti-government protests set parts of Tehran ablaze, with the country’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei blaming President Donald Trump for what he described as a foreign-driven uprising.

Authorities blacked out internet and phone services in much of Iran on Friday when videos spread showing buildings and vehicles burning in the streets of Tehran and other cities, multiple outlets report. In a televised address, Khamenei denounced the throngs of protesters as “vandals” and accused them of acting on behalf of Trump. He warned that the Islamic Republic would not retreat in the face of what he described as U.S.-inspired chaos, according to Reuters.

“The Islamic Republic came to power through the blood of hundreds of thousands of honourable people. It will not back down in the face of vandals,” Khamenei said.

President Trump, meanwhile, wrote on Truth Social that Iran’s second-largest city was “under protesters’ control,” sharing a video of the demonstrations.

“America stands with the Iranian people in their quest for basic dignity and freedom,” UN Ambassador Mike Waltz echoed on X Friday, adding, “We are watching.”

The protests began in December in response to Iran’s collapsing economy, worsened by U.S. sanctions and the country’s 12-day war with Israel in June. Merchants and shopkeepers were among the first to protest as inflation surged past 40% in December and the currency lost about half its value against the dollar, according to Reuters.

Tensions exploded Thursday night after exiled Crown Prince Reza Pahlavi called on Iranians to take to the streets. Pahlavi is the eldest son of Shah Mohammad Reza Pahlavi, the last Shah of Iran, toppled during the 1979 revolution.

The unrest continued overnight and into the morning, with protesters chanting “Death to the Dictator” and marching through the streets in huge numbers, as seen in social media footage verified by CNN.

Trump, who ordered the bombing of Iranian nuclear enrichment sites in June, warned earlier this month that if Iran “violently kills peaceful protesters,” the U.S. would “come to their rescue.”

Trump also warned Iran on Dec. 29, following a meeting with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, that the U.S. could carry out further military strikes if the country attempts to reestablish its nuclear program.

“We are locked and loaded and ready to go,” Trump wrote in a Jan. 2 Truth Social post.

“The US President has said that if the Iranian govt. does such-and-such, I’ll take the side of the rioters. The rioters have put their hopes in him. If he’s so capable, he should manage his own country,” Khamenei wrote on X Friday.

Building on his Thursday calls for protests, Pahlavi on Friday appealed for Trump’s “attention, support, and action.”

“Last night you saw the millions of brave Iranians in the streets facing down live bullets. Today, they are facing not just bullets but a total communications blackout,” Pahlavi wrote on X.

“Ali Khamenei, fearing the end of his criminal regime at the hands of the people and with the help of your powerful promise to support the protesters, has threatened the people on the streets with a brutal crack down,” wrote Pahlavi, saying that Khamenei “wants to use this blackout to murder these young heroes.”

“You have proven and I know you are a man of peace and a man of your word,” Pahlavi wrote of Trump. “Please be prepared to intervene to help the people of Iran.”

Pahlavi urged Iranians to protest again on Friday night, saying they should “make the crowd even larger so that the regime’s repressive power becomes even weaker.”

Human rights groups report a growing death toll, with more than 40 people dead and more than 2,000 detained by security forces, according to CBS News. Judiciary chief Gholamhossein Mohseni Ejei warned that punishment for rioters would be “decisive, maximal, and without any legal leniency,” ABC News reported.