Protesters chant against supreme leader at Tehran rally

Iran’s ICT Minister Sattar Hashemi said on Monday any decision to limit or cut internet access would depend on conditions, responding to questions about disruptions during unrest.

“Estimates show that more than 10 million citizens, directly or indirectly, have their lives and livelihoods affected by the country’s communications infrastructure,” Hashemi said. “People have demands and protests, but at the same time there is serious concern about damage to businesses if the internet is disrupted or cut, and this concern is completely understandable.”

He said cutting or restricting internet access was “not an absolute or permanent measure” and that decisions were made by taking into account what he described as “security, livelihood and the protection of citizens’ lives.”

As protests continued across Iran for a ninth day, the foreign ministry on Monday accused the United States and Israel of interfering in Iran’s internal affairs and encouraging violence through their public statements.

Spokesperson Esmail Baghaei said statements by some American and Israeli officials amounted to interference in Iran’s internal affairs and incitement to violence under international norms and rejected what he described as foreign efforts to present themselves as supportive of the Iranian public.

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Shops were closed in the port city of Bandar Ganaveh in southern Iran as part of what a resident described as a nationwide strike, according to a video received by Iran International.

The video, sent on Monday, showed shuttered businesses across the city, with the resident saying all shopkeepers had joined the strike.

Spokesperson Esmail Baghaei said statements by some American and Israeli officials amounted to interference in Iran’s internal affairs and incitement to violence under international norms and rejected what he described as foreign efforts to present themselves as supportive of the Iranian public.

“Actions or statements by figures such as the Israeli prime minister or certain radical and hardline US officials regarding Iran’s internal affairs amount, under international norms, to nothing more than incitement to violence, terrorism, and killing.”

Protests have been reported in 222 locations nationwide, including rallies in 78 cities across 26 provinces, according to the US-based Human Rights Activists News Agency (HRANA).

US President Donald Trump said on Sunday night aboard Air Force One that the United States is following developments in Iran very closely, warning: “If they start killing people like they have in the past, I think they are going to get hit very hard by the United States.”

Baghaei said Iranians remained deeply distrustful of Washington and Israel, citing past actions by the two countries and arguing that the public would not be swayed by what he called “deceptive rhetoric.”

He also said Iran would not base its security posture on remarks from Israeli officials, accusing Israel of misleading statements and signaling continued military vigilance.

“We are not going to trust or rely on the statements of officials from the Zionist regime,” he said. “The regime’s pattern of deception is clear to us.”

According to HRANA, at least 19 demonstrators and one member of security forces have been killed so far as the unrest continues.

Shops were closed in the port city of Bandar Ganaveh in southern Iran as part of what a resident described as a nationwide strike, according to a video received by Iran International.

The video, sent on Monday, showed shuttered businesses across the city, with the resident saying all shopkeepers had joined the strike.