Iran experienced a sweeping nationwide internet shutdown on Thursday as anti-government demonstrations intensified, sharply limiting communications as protests stretched into their second week and reported fatalities climbed to 44.
According to FOX News, live traffic monitoring by NetBlocks showed a sudden collapse in internet connectivity Thursday evening, shortly after calls circulated for coordinated demonstrations beginning at 8 p.m. local time.
The watchdog group said the disruption followed “a series of escalating digital censorship measures targeting protests across the country.”
The Associated Press separately reported that telephone services were also cut in parts of Iran.
Ali Safavi, a member of the National Council of Resistance of Iran (NCRI), told Fox News Digital the shutdown began earlier in the day. “
Iran experienced a sweeping nationwide internet shutdown on Thursday as anti-government demonstrations intensified, sharply limiting communications as protests stretched into their second week and reported fatalities climbed to 44.
According to FOX News, live traffic monitoring by NetBlocks showed a sudden collapse in internet connectivity Thursday evening, shortly after calls circulated for coordinated demonstrations beginning at 8 p.m. local time.
The watchdog group said the disruption followed “a series of escalating digital censorship measures targeting protests across the country.”
The Associated Press separately reported that telephone services were also cut in parts of Iran.
Ali Safavi, a member of the National Council of Resistance of Iran (NCRI), told Fox News Digital the shutdown began earlier in the day. “
Around 1 p.m. local time, the internet traffic dropped,” he said, adding that there were widespread reports “that the regime had cut off the internet.”
Safavi said the blackout coincided with violent confrontations in multiple regions. “The internet was cut off in Lordegan, Chaharmahal and Bakhtiari provinces as battles erupted,” he said.
He also cited unrest in Isfahan, Iran’s third-largest city, stating that “State radio and the TV station were set on fire by rebellious youth.”
As communications were increasingly restricted, reports of casualties continued to mount. The NCRI said Thursday that at least 44 protesters have been killed by Iranian security forces since the unrest began.
The group released the names of 13 additional victims that day, referring to them as “martyrs” of the nationwide uprising.
Seven of the newly identified victims were from Lordegan, including a woman and two teenagers. According to the NCRI, the individuals were killed by Revolutionary Guard units and other security forces using live ammunition.
The demonstrations initially erupted in December following the collapse of Iran’s currency and a surge in inflation, but have since broadened into calls for the overthrow of the Islamic Republic.
The unrest entered its 12th day with general strikes spreading through key commercial hubs and clashes intensifying, particularly in western regions of the country.
Safavi described the scope of the protests as unprecedented. “Millions of Iranians from north to south and east to west have been out in the streets until nighttime,” he said. “Over the past 12 days, more young people have laid down their lives to free Iran.”
In a statement posted on X, Reza Pahlavi said, “Millions of Iranians demanded their freedom tonight. In response, the regime in Iran has cut all lines of communication. It has shut down the Internet. It has cut landlines. It may even attempt to jam satellite signals.”
In Lordegan, security forces reportedly killed eight protesters in a single day, while clashes also resulted in the deaths of a regime colonel and two Basij members. In other parts of the country, protesters set fire to government buildings, including in Lumar, in Ilam province.
Safavi said symbols of state authority have been targeted nationwide. “Statues have been destroyed and set on fire,” he said, adding that “the day before, buses were set alight in Mashhad and another torched.”
Video footage cited by Reuters showed demonstrators in Mashhad tearing an Iranian flag in half while chanting slogans against the leadership. In Tehran, Safavi said protesters overturned a police vehicle in Kaj Square, an affluent neighborhood near the Alborz Mountains, as crowds shouted, “Death to the oppressor!”
Amid the escalating unrest, U.S. President Donald Trump addressed developments in Iran during a Thursday interview with radio host Hugh Hewitt, warning the government that if it began killing people, “they will be hit very hard.”
Asked whether he had a message for the Iranian public, Trump said, “You should feel strongly about freedom. There’s nothing like freedom. You’re brave people.”
The U.S. State Department’s Persian-language account on X later reiterated Trump’s warning in Farsi.
THE THIRD FORCE
