VIDEO. Thousands of people came out in many Iranian cities at the call of the former king's son. For the first time, the residents of Tabriz / Trump have also been added, a new warning

Protests in Iran are intensifying after the son of Iran's former king (Shah), Reza Pahlavi, urged Iranians to continue protesting against the theocratic regime of Ayatollah Ali Khamenei. For the first time since the protests began, the residents of Tabriz, one of the country's largest cities, also took to the streets, writes Iran International.

Prince Reza Pahlavi warned the leaders of the Islamic Republic and the Revolutionary Guards against cracking down on protests, saying the world and US President Donald Trump were closely watching events in Iran.

“Great nation of Iran, the eyes of the world are upon you. Take to the streets and, with close ranks, shout your demands,” the prince of Iran's former shah wrote in a post on X.

ملت بجور يران, کشم جهان به شما دوخته شده است. به خيابان‌ها بروید و در صفحه به‌هم‌ُوسته خود خود را فریاد بزید

به جموهری اسلامی, رهبرش و سپاپه پاسداران می‌دهم علیہ می‌دهم کہ کہ کے کے کے کے کے کے ریسہ امریکا کے کے کے کے oppressing men without response will not want mand.

— Reza Pahlavi (@PahlaviReza) January 8, 2026

A country disconnected from the internet

Before long, the internet was down nationwide, according to online monitoring group NetBlocks. “The incident comes after a series of growing digital censorship measures targeting protests in the country and obstructing the public's right to communicate at a critical time,” Netblocks' X account said.

The information was also confirmed by Cloudfare Radar which announced that at around 22:15 local time, Iran became virtually disconnected from the internet network.

#Internet traffic in #Iran has dropped to effectively zero as of 18:45 UTC (22:15 PM local time), signaling a complete shutdown in the country, and disconnection from the global Internet.https://t.co/V77cj6rrQW pic.twitter.com/yZjOBqsGJm

— Cloudflare Radar (@CloudflareRadar) January 8, 2026

However, Iranians took to the streets again in the 12th night of protests, demanding the return of the Pahlavi family to the country. For the first time, protests were reported in Tabriz, a city in northwestern Iran, where demonstrators chanted “Long live the Shah!” Pro-Pahlavi slogans were also chanted at Gorgan.

Iranians gathered in cities across the country at around 8 pm for a national rally called by exiled Prince Reza Pahlavi, according to videos sent to Iran International. pic.twitter.com/0X9PTuejgj

— Iran International English (@IranIntl_En) January 8, 2026

In another major city, Kermanshah, security forces opened fire on protesters, according to images released by Iran International, showing several people lying motionless on the ground.

वेडियोहाय रेष्टे बेहरान अर्णेन्शनाल मिध्ड़ाद दर पुश्चन्शेट 18 दिमाह दर सहरक दरहडाज कर्मान्शाह, शमारी इस मत्ट्सेटर बह गयाबान वेधे बुद्धान.
Meanwhile, one of the audience of Iran International sent a video where several people are seen dead on the ground. This contact in… pic.twitter.com/OmsYa2UAeK

— Iran International (@IranIntl) January 8, 2026

In Khorramabad, protesters waved the Iranian flag from before the Islamic Revolution and set fire to the building housing the local governor's office.

In the capital Tehran, a banner honoring Qassem Soleimani, a Quds Force commander who was killed in Baghdad in 2020 in a US strike, was set on fire.

Trump's warning: “They will pay dearly”

President Donald Trump also warned Iranian authorities not to kill protesters. “They were told very firmly that if they do this, they will pay dearly,” Trump said.

Addressing the Iranians, Trump said: “Nothing compares to freedom. You are a brave people. It's a shame what happened to your country.”

Later, in an interview with journalist Hugh Hewitt, the American president was asked if he would meet with Reza Pahlavi, the son of the former shah. “I watched him and he seems like a decent person, but I'm not sure it would be appropriate at this time for me to do that as president,” the US president said.

A message of support for the protesters also came from Vice President JD Vance. “Obviously, the Iranian regime has a lot of problems, and as the president said, the smartest thing they could do — two months ago, but it's still true today — is to have a real negotiation with the U.S. on their nuclear program,” Vance said.

How the protests started

The protests began on December 28, when traders of the Grand Bazaar took to the streets in the capital Tehran to express their displeasure at another sharp drop in the value of Iran's currency, the rial, against the US dollar on the open market.

The rial has hit an all-time low over the past year and inflation has soared to 40 percent amid sanctions on Iran's nuclear program that are affecting an economy already weakened by government mismanagement and corruption.

Students quickly joined the protests, which began to spread to other cities, with crowds frequently chanting slogans against the country's supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, and sometimes in support of Reza Pahlavi, the exiled son of Iran's former shah.

Footage filmed on Wednesday showed crowds protesting in Qazvin, northwest of Tehran, chanting slogans such as “Death to the dictator” – a reference to Khamenei – and “Long live the Shah”.