Tehran
\nProtests in Iran have subsided after a crackdown by security forces amid an internet blackout, monitors said on Friday, a week after the start of the largest demonstrations in years challenging the country\u2019s government.
\nReza Pahlavi, the US-based son of Iran\u2019s late shah, however, said he was confident the Islamic republic would fall and called for intervention, though the threat of new military action by the United States against Iran has appeared to have receded for the time being.
\nIn posts to social media on Friday, Pahlavi announced a fresh coordinated demonstration, calling for Iranians to \u201craise your voices in anger and protest with our national slogans\u201d on the weekend.
\nProtests sparked by economic grievances started with a shutdown in the Tehran bazaar on December 28 but turned into a mass movement demanding the removal of the clerical system that has ruled Iran since the 1979 revolution.
\nPeople started pouring into the streets in big cities from January 8 but authorities immediately enforced a shutdown of the internet that has lasted over a week and activists say is aimed at masking the scale of the crackdown.
\nThe \u201cbrutal\u201d repression has \u201clikely suppressed the protest movement for now\u201d, said the US-based Institute for the Study of War, which has monitored the protest activity.
\nBut it added: \u201cThe regime\u2019s widespread mobilisation of security forces is unsustainable, however, which makes it possible that protests could resume.\u201d
\nPahlavi also told a news conference in Washington on Friday that \u201cThe Islamic republic will fall \u2013 not if, but when.\u201d \u201cI will return to Iran,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
\u2018Give Iran a chance\u2019
\nMonitor Netblocks said that the \u201ctotal internet blackout\u201d in Iran had now lasted over 180 hours, longer than a similar measure that was imposed during 2019 protests.
\nAmnesty International said this was being backed up by the use of heavily armed patrols and checkpoints to crush \u201cthe nationwide popular uprising in Iran\u201d with security forces visible in the streets.
\nTrump, who backed and joined Israel\u2019s 12-day war against Iran in June, had not ruled out new military action against Tehran and made clear he was keeping a close eye on if any protesters were executed.
\nBut a senior Saudi official told AFP on Thursday that Saudi Arabia, Qatar and Oman led \u201ca long, frantic, diplomatic last-minute effort to convince President Trump to give Iran a chance to show good intention\u201d.
\nWhile Washington appeared to have stepped back, the White House said Thursday that \u201call options remain on the table for the president\u201d.
\nAttention had focused on the fate of Erfan Soltani, a 26-year-old protestor who rights activists and Washington said was set to be executed as early as Wednesday.
\nThe Iranian judiciary confirmed Soltani was under arrest but said he had not been sentenced to death and his charges meant he did not risk capital punishment.
\nRights groups have estimated up to 20,000 people have been arrested.
\nSecurity officials cited by the Tasnim news agency on Friday said around 3,000 people were arrested.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Tehran Protests in Iran have subsided after a crackdown by security forces amid an internet blackout, monitors said on Friday, a week after the start of the largest demonstrations in years challenging the country\u2019s government. Reza Pahlavi, the US-based son of Iran\u2019s late shah, however, said he was confident the Islamic republic would fall and […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":526283,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-526255","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-world"},"yoast_head":"\n