Iran Warns Protesters Of Death Penalty As Tehran Unrest Intensifies; Trump Vows Support, Warns Regime

New Delhi: As protests continue to escalate in Iran amid widespread arrests and an internet blackout, Iran's Attorney General, Mohammad Movahedi Azad, has cautioned that protesters may be classified as “enemies of God”, a charge that comes with the death penalty under Iranian law. 

Iranian state media reported that Attorney General Mohammad Movahedi Azad’s warning extends beyond active protesters as even those providing assistance to "rioters" could be charged as an "enemy of God'.

What Iranian law says

According to Human Rights Watch, Article 186 under Iranian law stipulates that if an organization takes up arms against the Islamic Republic, any member or supporter who intentionally aids their mission can be labeled an "enemy of God." Crucially, this applies even to individuals who do not personally engage in violent or armed acts.

Under Article 190, the crime of "corruption on earth" carries four potential sentences: execution, hanging, the amputation of the right hand and left foot, or life in internal exile. According to Article 191, presiding judges are granted the full discretion to select which of these penalties is applied to the convicted.

The statement read, "Prosecutors must carefully and without delay, by issuing indictments, prepare the grounds for the trial and decisive confrontation with those who, by betraying the nation and creating insecurity, seek foreign domination over the country."

Protests In Iran

The protests, which began over rising living costs, have rapidly evolved into a broader anti-government movement calling for the end of the Islamic Republic, which has ruled Iran since the 1979 revolution. Demonstrations have now entered their thirteenth day and have spread to at least 100 cities across Iran's 31 provinces.

At least 116 people have been killed in the protests that began in late December over Iran’s ailing economy and have morphed into the most significant challenge to the government in years and and over 2,600 others have been detained.

Despite Iran’s theocracy cutting off the nation from the internet and international telephone calls, short online videos shared by activists purported to show protesters chanting against Iran’s government in the streets in the capital, Tehran, and other areas.

Authorities have responded with arrests and restrictions to curb the unrest. One hundred people were arrested in the Iranian county of Baharestan near the capital city of Tehran on charges of disrupting public order and leading "riots," Iranian media reported. 

Protesters in Tehran cheering on road

Footage circulating on social media shows protesters in Tehran dancing and cheering around a bonfire on a road in the Iranian capital. Demonstrators are heard in the video chanting and remarking on the size of the marching crowd.

Protesters were heard chanting "Pahlavi will return," referencing Iran's exiled crown prince Reza Pahlavi, who has been trying to position himself as a player in his country’s future.

Meanwhile, Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei has signalled a coming clampdown, despite U.S. warnings.

'US ready to help': Donald Trump

Amid the protests in Iran, US President Donald Trump on Saturday said United States stands ready to help the Middle-Eastern country, which is looking at "Freedom" like never before.

Taking to his social media account Truth Social, Trump said, "Iran is looking at FREEDOM, perhaps like never before. The USA stands ready to help!!!"

Earlier on Friday, Trump said that the situation in Iran is being monitored very closely and hoped for the protestors in the country to be safe. He warned that if protestors were killed, the US would get involved and would hit the country where it hurts.

"Iran's in big trouble. It looks to me that the people are taking over certain cities that nobody thought were really possible. We're watching the situation very carefully. I made the statement very strongly that if they start killing people like they have in the past, we will get involved. We will be hitting them very hard where it hurts, and that doesn't mean boots on the ground, but it means hitting them very hard where it hurts so we don't want that to happen," the US President said.

He added, "But this is something pretty incredible that is happening in Iran. It's an amazing thing to watch. They've done a bad job, they have treated their people very badly and now they are being paid back, so let's see what happens. We are watching it very closely".

Meanwhile, Iran's former Crown Prince Reza Pahlavi, who has been living in exile since the 1979 revolution, issued a call for intensified civil resistance. In a message released on Saturday, Pahlavi urged workers in key economic sectors to strike and encouraged protesters to move toward occupying central areas of Tehran.

More weekend demonstrations planned

The demonstrations over the collapse of the Iranian rial currency, which trades at over 1.4 million to $1, as the country's economy is squeezed by international sanctions in part levied over its nuclear program. The protests intensified and grew into calls directly challenging Iran's theocracy.

Airlines have canceled some flights into Iran over the demonstrations. Austrian Airlines said it had decided to suspend its flights to Iran “as a precautionary measure” through Monday. Turkish Airlines earlier announced the cancellation of 17 flights to three cities in Iran. 

Meanwhile, concern is growing that the internet shutdown will allow Iran's security forces to go on a bloody crackdown, as they have in other rounds of demonstrations. 

Ali Rahmani, the son of Nobel Peace Prize laureate Narges Mohammadi who is imprisoned in Iran, noted that security forces killed hundreds in a 2019 protest “so we can only fear the worst.” 

“They are fighting, and losing their lives, against a dictatorial regime,” Rahmani said.

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