Iran holds pro-government rally as regime seeks to downplay protests
NEWS | 13 January 2026
Tens of thousands of pro-government demonstrators have rallied in Tehran as the Iranian regime sought to downplay the continuing nationwide protest movement. State TV showed crowds of people on Monday streaming through the streets of Tehran before gathering in Enqelab Square for the “Iranian uprising against American-Zionist terrorism” rally. There, they listened to a speech by the speaker of the parliament, Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf, who railed against western intervention. Ghalibaf said Iran was fighting a four-front war: an “economic war, psychological warfare, military war against the US and Israel, and today a war against terrorism”. Flanked by the slogans “Death to Israel, Death to America” in Persian, he vowed the Iranian military would teach Donald Trump “an unforgettable lesson” if Iran were attacked. Iran’s supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, said the demonstration was a “warning” to American politicians following threats from the US president, Donald Trump, to intervene militarily in Iran. “These massive rallies, full of determination, have thwarted the plan of foreign enemies that were supposed to be carried out by domestic mercenaries,” he said, according to Iranian state TV. The show of support by regime supporters came as the Iranian government tried to project an air of normality, despite being rocked by the country’s largest protest movement since 2009. Your browser doesn't support HTML5 video. Here is a link to the video instead. Cars and buildings on fire as protests continue Iran’s capital – video The US president has repeatedly threatened to intervene if Tehran killed protesters. The White House on Monday said Trump was not afraid to use military force, but wanted diplomacy. Iran’s foreign minister claimed the situation in the country had “come under total control” on Monday in an address to foreign diplomats. The few messages and videos to have emerged from Iran overnight showed that protests were continuing, but an ongoing internet blackout made it difficult to judge whether the authorities’ use of violence had been effective in blunting the movement’s momentum. The Norway-based NGO Iran Human Rights said it had confirmed 648 people killed during the protests, including nine minors, and thousands more injuries, but warned the death toll was probably much higher – “according to some estimates more than 6,000”, it said. Videos on social media showed protests continuing into Monday, in contrast to officials’ comments, but demonstrations thus far have been concentrated at night. The protests, now in their 16th day, started when traders in Tehran took to the streets to protest over a sudden depreciation in the national currency. They have expanded into nationwide demonstrations with protesters calling for the fall of the Iranian regime – triggering a heavy-handed response by authorities. Iran has beat back previous rounds of mass unrest through the use of force, notably in 2009 and 2019. The coming few days are being seen as a bellwether for the staying power of the current protest movement in the face of an increasingly lethal response. The foreign minister claimed that western powers had turned peaceful protests “violent and bloody to give an excuse” for military intervention. Iranian officials have accused Israel and the US of backing protests and using them to try to destabilise the country, despite the apparent vast popular participation of everyday Iranians in the protest movement. The government crackdown has drawn a wave of condemnation from the international community, with Germany and Canada calling on authorities to halt their repression of Iranians on Monday. 0:46 Bodies line the streets outside morgue in Tehran as deadly protests continue – video What little information made its way out of Iran amid its internet blackout – now in its fourth day – showed continued use of force against protesters and a soaring death toll. “After some time, in the darkness, gunfire began and people were hit by bullets. There were no security forces present in the streets. Based on what we observed, we suspect the shots were fired either from drones in the sky or directly from rooftops,” said a protester in the Punak neighbourhood of Tehran. They added that authorities seemed to cut off electricity before firing at protesters, so that the crowds were plunged into darkness before bullets started flying. A video circulating over the weekend showed dozens of bodies in a warehouse in the Kahrizak area of Tehran. The Hengaw human rights group said the warehouse was being used as an overflow facility for a morgue that was too overcrowded. Footage showed families huddled around a widescreen television where faces of the dead at the morgue would appear, hoping to learn the fate of their loved ones who went out to protest but did not return. Iranian authorities have sought to clamp down on protests with a very public show of force inside Iran, handing out harsh sentences to those they deem to be involved in demonstrations. At least 96 cases of forced confessions had been broadcast by state media, evidence that was often used later to carry out death sentences, rights groups warned. One protester, 26-year-old Irfan Soltani, had been sentenced to death, with his execution slated for Wednesday, the Hengaw human rights group said, citing his family. Soltani would be the first protester executed by authorities since the protest movement began. View image in fullscreen Iranians gather while blocking a street during a protest in Tehran last week. Photograph: Khoshiran/Middle East Images/AFP/Getty Images Reza Pahlavi, the US-based son of Iran’s ousted shah, on Sunday urged Iranian security forces and government employees to join the swelling protest movement. “Employees of state institutions, as well as members of the armed and security forces, have a choice: stand with the people and become allies of the nation, or choose complicity with the murderers of the people,” Pahlavi posted on social media. Protesters have increasingly rallied around Pahlavi as an opposition figure to the regime, with demonstrators chanting support for his family dynasty. He has claimed that thousands of members of Iran’s security forces have signalled their intent to defect through an online platform he has created, and that he will give further instructions when the time is right. Thousands of Iranians rallied around the world over the weekend in support of protesters inside the country.
Author: Deepa Parent. William Christou.
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