Iran protests 2026
Iran’s president vowed on Wednesday that the Islamic republic would not yield to outside aggression, as it marked the anniversary of the 1979 revolution with events overshadowed by the looming threat of US military action.
Protesters, meanwhile, renewed anti-government chants from the balconies of residential blocks, in defiance of an ongoing crackdown on opposition to the clerical system, which rights groups say has seen security forces shoot thousands dead.
US President Donald Trump has not ruled out strikes against Tehran, although he has tied his decision to a deal on the Iranian nuclear programme rather thanthe treatment of protesters. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who wants a tougher stance against Tehran, was due to hold talks with Trump on Wednesday.
Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi and US envoy Steve Witkoff held indirect talks on the nuclear issue in Oman on Friday, although it remains unclear when, or even if, a new round might be held, despite optimistic statements from Tehran.
Iran’s supreme national security council head Ali Larijani followed this up with talks in Oman on Tuesday and he was now heading for discussions in US ally Qatar, one of the Gulf states seeking to mediate a peaceful outcome.
Qatar’s Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani and Trump, in a telephone call, meanwhile discussed “international efforts aimed at de-escalation and strengthening regional security and peace”, the royal court said Wednesday.
– ‘Will not yield’ –
in a speech at Azadi Square in the capital for the 47th anniversary of the Islamic Revolution, President Masoud Pezeshkian said Iran would not yield to “excessive demands” from Washington.
“Our Iran will not yield in the face of aggression, but we are continuing dialogue with all our strength with neighbouring countries to establish peace and tranquillity in the region,” he said.
The West believes that Tehran is seeking a nuclear weapon, but Pezeshkian again insisted the atomic programme was entirely peaceful and that Iran was ready for “any verification” by inspectors.
He was speaking as people filled the square and others across the country waved flags of the Islamic Republic to mark its main revolutionary holiday.
– ‘We will disappoint our enemies’ –
February 11, or Bahman 22 according to the Persian calendar, marks the anniversary of the resignation of the ousted shah’s last prime minister and the formal assumption of power by the revolutionary leader.
People brandished images of Trump with the slogan “we will disappoint our enemies”, an AFP journalist said.
The protests and threat of US military action have posed a major challenge for Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, Iran’s number one, who took up his post for life in 1989 after the death of Khomeini.
Late Tuesday, as authorities set off fireworks to mark the event, people took to balconies in Tehran to chant slogans including “death to Khamenei” and “death to the dictator”, according to footage shared by widely-followed protest monitor channels on Telegram and X, including Vahid Online and Mamlekate.
AFP verified three such videos posted by Mamlekate.
According tothe US-based group Human Rights Activists News Agency (HRANA), 6,984 people, including 6,490 protesters, were killed during the protests as authorities launched the crackdown.
Meanwhile, at least 52,623 people have been arrested in the ensuing crackdown, it added.
Those arrested most recently have included figures in the reformist movement inside Iran who supported Pezeshkian’s 2024 election campaign.
The chanting of the slogans late Tuesday marked a “continuation of the nationwide protests despite the prevailing security atmosphere and widespread control measures,” HRANA said.
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