10.1.2026
Iranian Revolutionary Guard said on Saturday it would safeguard strategic infrastructure and public property and urged Iranians to thwart “the enemy’s plots”, as the clerical establishment steps up efforts to quell the country’s biggest protests in years.
The Iranian military statement came after US President Donald Trump issued a new warning to Iran’s leaders on Friday, and after Secretary of State Marco Rubio on Saturday declared: “The United States supports the brave people of Iran.”
Unrest continued overnight. State media said a municipal building was set on fire in Karaj, west of Tehran, and blamed “rioters”. State TV broadcast footage of funerals of members of the security forces it said were killed in protests in the cities of Shiraz, Qom and Hamedan.
Saturday marks the start of the work week in Iran, but many schools and universities reportedly held online classes, Iranian state TV reported. Internal Iranian government websites are believed to be functioning.
State TV repeatedly played a driving, martial orchestral arrangement from the “Epic of Khorramshahr” by Iranian composer Majid Entezami, while showing pro-government demonstrations. The song, aired repeatedly during the 12-day war launched by Israel, honours Iran’s 1982 liberation of the city of Khorramshahr during the Iran-Iraq war. It has been used in videos of protesting women cutting away their hair to protest against the 2022 death of Mahsa Amini as well.
With the internet down in Iran and phone lines cut off, gauging the demonstrations from abroad has grown more difficult. But the death toll in the protests has grown to at least 65 people killed and over 2,300 others detained, according to the US-based Human Rights Activists News Agency. Iranian state TV is reporting on security force casualties while portraying control over the nation.
A witness in western Iran reached by phone told Reuters the Revolutionary Guards (IRGC) were deployed and opening fire in the area from which they were speaking, declining to be identified for their safety.
The military, which operates separately to the IRGC but is also commanded by Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, announced it would “protect and safeguard national interests, the country’s strategic infrastructure, and public property”.
In a statement published by semi-official news sites, the military accused Israel and “hostile terrorist groups” of seeking to “undermine the country’s public security”.
“The Army, under the command of the Supreme Commander-in-Chief, together with other armed forces, in addition to monitoring enemy movements in the region, will resolutely protect and safeguard national interests, the country’s strategic infrastructure, and public property,” it said.
The protests have spread across much of Iran over the last two weeks, beginning in response to soaring inflation, but quickly turned political with protesters calling for clerical rulers to step down. Reuters