Over the weekend, protesters in Iran raged against Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei by publicly burning his image while other protesters chanted “Shah of Iran, return to Iran!”
According to Haaretz, protests ranged across at least a dozen cities after President Hassan Rouhani raised government-set gasoline prices by 50%. NetBlocks, which monitors worldwide internet access, reported on Saturday that it appeared the government had shut down the internet, tweeting: “Confirmed:#Iran is now in the midst of a near-total national internet shutdown; realtime network data show connectivity at 7% of ordinary levels after twelve hours of progressive network disconnections as public protests continue #IranProtests.”
Confirmed: #Iran is now in the midst of a near-total national internet shutdown; realtime network data show connectivity at 7% of ordinary levels after twelve hours of progressive network disconnections as public protests continue #IranProtests 📉
📰 https://t.co/1Al0DT8an1 pic.twitter.com/u6bVsfvOOm
— NetBlocks.org (@netblocks) November 16, 2019
Netblocks updated on Sunday: “Update: It has now been 24 hours since #Iran implemented a near-total shutdown following hours of partial blackouts and widespread protests, The ongoing disruption constitutes a severe violation of the basic rights and liberties of Iranians.”
Update: It has now been 24 hours since #Iran implemented a near-total internet shutdown following hours of partial blackouts amid widespread protests.
The ongoing disruption constitutes a severe violation of the basic rights and liberties of Iranians⏱
📰https://t.co/1Al0DT8an1 pic.twitter.com/i7sudrB3I4
— NetBlocks.org (@netblocks) November 17, 2019
Other videos showed the outrage that kept percolating:
#Iran, Nov 16- Citizens burn the banners of Ali Khamenei to show their hatred of the Islamic government. pic.twitter.com/ibFRelQLzU
— Persian Reuters (@PersianReuters) November 16, 2019
Protests across #Iran today over fuel prices hike. This is a building set on fire in Behbahan (SW).Videos coming from across country, inc. Tehran, Shiraz, Damavand, Tabriz, Isfahan
Officials confirmed 1 person killed. Other counts put # between 4 and 9: pic.twitter.com/JNKTqA5BVH
— Joyce Karam (@Joyce_Karam) November 16, 2019
Protesters of all ages in #Iran chant:
“Shah of Iran, return to Iran!”
Protests began as gasoline prices tripled overnight in the oil-rich country without prior notice by the regime, and rapidly escalated into anti-regime demonstrations. #IranProtests pic.twitter.com/FP1VUsQyek— Reza Behrouz (@RBehrouzDO) November 16, 2019
On Saturday, Secretary of State Mike Pompeo stated that the U.S. backed the protesters, tweeting:
Iran uses its terrorist proxy Palestinian Islamic Jihad to strike our great ally Israel. Iran does not want peace in the region. It does not want the Palestinian people to prosper. It wants more conflict. Until we address Iran’s threats, the cycle of violence will continue. The way forward is clear: continued pressure until Iran negotiates a comprehensive agreement that includes halting its support to terror groups like PIJ. Nations around the world can no longer claim to want peace in the region yet allow Iran’s threats to go unchallenged.
After 40 years of tyranny, the proud Iranian people are not staying silent about their government’s abuses. We will not stay silent either. I have a message for the people of Iran: The United States Hears You, The United States Supports You. The United States Is With You.
Iran uses its terrorist proxy Palestinian Islamic Jihad to strike our great ally Israel. Iran does not want peace in the region. It does not want the Palestinian people to prosper. It wants more conflict. Until we address Iran’s threats, the cycle of violence will continue.
— Secretary Pompeo (@SecPompeo) November 16, 2019
The way forward is clear: continued pressure until Iran negotiates a comprehensive agreement that includes halting its support to terror groups like PIJ. Nations around the world can no longer claim to want peace in the region yet allow Iran’s threats to go unchallenged.
— Secretary Pompeo (@SecPompeo) November 16, 2019
پس از #چهل_سال بیداد، مردم پر افتخار ایران درمورد سوء استفاده های حکومتشان ساکت نمی نشینند. ما هم ساکت نخواهیم ماند. من پیامی برای #مردم_ایران دارم: ایالات متحده صدای شما را می شنود. ایالات متحده از شما حمایت می کند. #ایالات_متحده با شماست. pic.twitter.com/kyKEgZ0BGB
— Secretary Pompeo (@SecPompeo) July 23, 2018
In January 2018, Vice President Mike Pence wrote in The Washington Post:
Eight-and-a-half years ago, Americans watched the people of Iran rise up to claim their birthright of freedom. In the “Green Revolution,” millions of courageous young men and women filled the streets of Tehran and Tabriz, Qazvin and Karaj, and what seemed like every city and village in between. They denounced a fraudulent election, and as the days went on, they began to demand that the unelected ayatollahs end their decades of repression and release their iron-fisted grip on Iran and her people.
Those brave protesters looked to the leader of the free world for support. But as I saw first hand as a member of Congress, the president of the United States stayed silent. In the wake of the demonstrations and the regime’s brutal attempts to suppress them, President Barack Obama repeatedly failed to express America’s solidarity with the Iranian protesters. As a member of the House Foreign Affairs Committee, I recognized the lack of action for what it was: an abdication of American leadership.
Pence added:
The last administration’s refusal to act ultimately emboldened Iran’s tyrannical rulers to crack down on the dissent. The Green Revolution was ruthlessly put down, and the deadly silence on the streets of Iran matched the deafening silence from the White House. To this day, many Iranians blame the United States for abandoning them in their hour of need.
Today, the Iranian people are once again rising up to demand freedom and opportunity, and under President Trump, the United States is standing with them. This time, we will not be silent.