Violent riots again rocked several Iranian cities overnight last night including in Tehran, according to Iranian government sources. Videos appearing on social media showed rioters attacking mosques, private property including automobiles, businesses, government offices, and security forces. Government officials vowed to put down the riots, which they attributed to hostile foreign influences. (These statements stand in contrast to some pro-Iran figures, who have been claiming that the streets in Iran are actually quiet, and that the protests are a media fabrication.)
Last night’s riots were reportedly followed by very large pro-government rallies across Iran on Jan. 10. The fresh protests came as U.S. President Donald Trump again threatened the Islamic regime that he would intervene if demonstrators were killed. “I tell the Iranian leaders—you better not start shooting because we’ll start shooting, too,” he said at a White House meeting with oil executives.
Secretary of Iran’s Supreme National Security Council Ali Larijani said in comments on Friday night, Jan. 9, that the violent rioters who took up arms against security forces have been organized by the enemies of Iran in the form of quasi-terrorist urban groups, reported Tasnim. He added that the enemies, after failing to defeat Iran during the U.S.-Israeli 12-day war against Iran in June 2025, changed tactics and decided to target Iran’s element of strength, namely its national unity. He said they took advantage of the protests held by the business people and bazaar, some of which were legitimate, in order to foment violent unrest, and they transformed the protests into a war by dispatching firearms and Molotov cocktails to the streets.
