Protests continued across Tehran and other parts of the country on Sunday, with security forces deployed in large numbers around the capital’s main bazaar and major shopping centers as demonstrations entered their eighth day.
Many shops in the bazaar in Tehran remained closed, while plainclothes security agents were reported in nearby streets, according to videos and information received by Iran International.
Videos showed crowds chanting slogans at security forces as tear gas was fired and motorcycle-mounted units were deployed along Jomhouri Street in Tehran.
Overnight protests were reported in dozens of cities, with demonstrations continuing in Tehran neighborhoods including Narmak, Naziabad, and Hafez Street, as well as in provincial cities such as Sangsar in Semnan province, Nurabad-e Mamasani in Fars province, Sari in Mazandaran province, and Malekshahi in Ilam province.
Labor, retiree, civil, and teachers’ organizations inside Iran also issued statements backing the protests, citing inflation, unemployment, and economic pressure.
Internet disruptions across parts of Iran
Internet access was reduced or effectively cut off in several parts of the country on Sunday, particularly in areas where protests were more intense.
Residents in cities including Asadabad in western Iran, Kermanshah, Dezful, Malekshahi, Malard, Marvdasht, Kuhdasht, Borazjan, Mashhad, Shiraz, and parts of Tehran reported severe disruptions, with some saying it took hours to send a single text message.
Opposition figures pay tribute to slain protestors
Iran International has verified the identities 16 protestors who have been killed during the protests.
Some sources have reported a higher number of fatalities. US-based human rights group, Human Rights Activists News Agency (HRANA), reported the deaths of at least 19 protestors on Sunday.
Iran International's investigations to verify reports regarding the identities and final number of those killed in cities including Azna, Marvdasht, Malekshahi, Hefshjan, and Farsan are still ongoing.
Iran’s exiled prince Reza Pahlavi paid tribute to the slain protesters, saying in a post on X that he honored their memory and vowed to hold those responsible to account.
“I honor and keep alive the memory and names of our compatriots who were killed in Iran’s national uprising,” Pahlavi said in a post on X.
Addressing the families of slain protestors, Pahlavi said: “On this irreversible path, I stand shoulder to shoulder with you.”
“I assure you that those who ordered and carried out these crimes will be identified and, without doubt, punished,” he added.
Addressing Iran’s Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei, he said: “By spilling the blood of the purest children of this land, you and your network have brought your own downfall closer. We will not back down and will continue until the complete destruction of your anti-Iranian regime.”
Komala Party Leader Abdullah Mohtadi on Sunday offered condolences to the families of slain protesters, and condemned what he described as a “major crime” by the Iran's Revolutionary Guards in Malekshahi, Ilam province.
"The great force of the popular movement will ultimately sweep away the apparatus of oppression and crime," he added in a post on X.
