• Protesters and police clashes mark significant escalation in unrest.
• Economic hardship turns violent across multiple provinces.
• Iran’s economy struggles since US reimposed sanctions in 2018.

US President Donald Trump on Friday said that if Iran shoots and violently kills “peaceful protesters,” the United States of America will come to their rescue.

“We are locked and loaded and ready to go,” he said in a Truth Social post.

This follows the deaths of several people as Iran’s biggest protests in three years over economic hardship turned violent across multiple provinces.

The clashes between protesters and security forces mark a significant escalation in the unrest that has spread across the country since shopkeepers began protesting on Sunday over the government’s handling of a sharp currency slide and rapidly rising prices.

Iran’s economy has struggled for years since the US reimposed sanctions in 2018, after Trump withdrew from an international nuclear agreement during his first term.

On Thursday, Iran’s Fars news agency reported two people killed in clashes between security forces and protesters in the city of Lordegan, in the province of Chaharmahal and Bakhtiari, and three in Azna, in neighbouring Lorestan province.

“Some protesters began throwing stones at the city’s administrative buildings, including the provincial governor’s office, the mosque, the Martyrs’ Foundation, the town hall and banks,” Fars said of Lordegan, adding police responded with tear gas.

Fars reported that the buildings were “severely damaged” and that police arrested several people described as “ringleaders”.

In Azna, Fars said “rioters took advantage of a protest gathering… to attack a police commissariat”.

During previous protest movements, state media has labelled demonstrators “rioters”.

Earlier Thursday, state television reported that a member of Iran’s security forces was killed overnight during protests in the western city of Kouhdasht.

“A 21-year-old member of the Basij from the city of Kouhdasht was killed last night by rioters while defending public order,” the channel said, citing Said Pourali, the deputy governor of Lorestan Province.

The Basij are a volunteer paramilitary force linked to Iran’s Revolutionary Guards, the ideological arm of the Islamic republic.

Pourali said that “during the demonstrations in Kouhdasht, 13 police officers and Basij members were injured by stone throwing”.

‘End up in hell’

The demonstrations are smaller than the last major outbreak of unrest in 2022, triggered by the death in custody of Mahsa Amini, who was arrested for allegedly violating Iran’s strict dress code for women.

Her death sparked a nationwide wave of anger that left several hundred people dead, including dozens of members of the security forces.

The latest protests began peacefully in the capital and spread after students from at least 10 universities joined in on Tuesday.

Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian has sought to calm tensions, acknowledging protesters’ “legitimate demands”, and called on the government Thursday to take action to improve the economic situation.

“From an Islamic perspective… if we do not resolve the issue of people’s livelihoods, we will end up in hell,” Pezeshkian said at an event broadcast on state television.

Authorities, however, have also promised to take a “firm” stance, and have warned against exploiting the situation to sow chaos.

Local media coverage of the demonstrations has varied, with some outlets focusing on economic difficulties, and others on incidents caused by “troublemakers”.

Iran is in the middle of an extended weekend, with the authorities declaring Wednesday a bank holiday at the last minute, citing the need to save energy during the cold weather.

They made no official link to the protests.

The weekend in Iran begins on Thursday, and Saturday is a long-standing national holiday.

Iran’s prosecutor general said on Wednesday that peaceful economic protests were legitimate, but any attempt to create insecurity would be met with a “decisive response”.

“Any attempt to turn economic protests into a tool of insecurity, destruction of public property, or implementation of externally designed scenarios will inevitably be met with a legal, proportionate and decisive response.”

Earlier this week, a video showing a person sitting in the middle of a Tehran street facing down motorcycle police went viral on social media, with some seeing it as a “Tiananmen moment” — a reference to a famous image of a Chinese protester defying a column of tanks during 1989 anti-government protests in Beijing.

On Thursday, state television alleged the footage had been staged to “create a symbol” and aired another video purportedly shot from another angle by a police officer’s camera.

Sitting cross-legged, the protester remains impassive, head bowed, before covering his head with his jacket as behind him a crowd flees clouds of tear gas.

On Wednesday evening, the Tasnim news agency reported the arrest of seven people it described as being affiliated with “groups hostile to the Islamic Republic based in the United States and Europe”.

It said they had been “tasked with turning the demonstrations into violence”. Tasnim did not say when they were arrested.

The national currency, the rial, has lost more than a third of its value against the US dollar over the past year, while double-digit hyperinflation has been undermining Iranians´ purchasing power for years.

The inflation rate in December was 52% year-on-year, according to the Statistical Centre of Iran, an official body.

• Air India pilot fails two breathalyser tests.
• Reports for duty while being under influence.
• Airline confirms bringing in alternative pilot.

NEW DELHI: Canada’s transport regulator has asked Air India to investigate an incident of a pilot reporting for duty under the influence of alcohol and failing two breathalyser tests, a person familiar with the matter said.

The tests were conducted by Canadian police at Vancouver International Airport, after the pilot was asked to leave the aircraft, the person said.

The incident was labelled as a “serious matter” by Transport Canada in a letter to Air India and authorities are likely to pursue enforcement action, the person added.

The person requested anonymity as he was not authorised to speak to the media. Transport Canada did not respond to an emailed request for comment outside regular working hours.

In a statement, Air India confirmed the flight from Vancouver to Delhi on December 23 experienced a last-minute delay due to the incident, adding that an alternate pilot was brought in to operate the flight.

“The pilot has been taken off flying duties during the process of enquiry. Air India maintains a zero-tolerance policy towards any violation of applicable rules and regulations,” Air India said.

“Pending the outcome of the investigation, any confirmed violation will attract strict disciplinary action in line with company policy.”

The letter from Transport Canada official Ajit Oommen has asked Air India to provide its findings and details of steps taken to prevent future occurrences by January 26, the person familiar with the matter said.

India has been under intense scrutiny since the June 12 crash of a Boeing Dreamliner killed 260 people. India’s aviation regulator has flagged multiple safety lapses at the airline, which was previously owned by the government until 2022.

Pilots at Air India, owned by Tata Group and Singapore Airlines have also come under scrutiny. This week, India’s Directorate General of Civil Aviation sent warning notices to four Air India pilots, flagging “serious safety concerns” related to regulatory compliance and flight crew decision-making.

The DGCA said the pilots accepted an aircraft for operation last year despite prior knowledge of “repeated snags” and “existing systems degradations,” according to warning notices dated December 29 seen by Reuters. The aircraft is a Boeing 787 used for long-haul flights, according to Flightradar24.

• Police say victim identification may take days or weeks.
• Cause unclear; authorities rule out an attack.
• Witnesses point to sparklers on champagne bottles as trigger.

CRANS-MONTANA: Investigators raced on Friday to identify the victims of a fire that ripped through a bar in the Swiss Alps town of Crans-Montana, turning a New Year’s celebration into one of the country’s worst tragedies.

It is not yet clear what set off the blaze at Le Constellation, killing around 40 people and injuring at least 115 others, many seriously.

Bystanders described scenes of panic and chaos as people tried to break the windows to escape and others, covered in burns, poured into the street.

Swiss police warned it could take days or even weeks to identify everyone who perished, leaving an agonising wait for family and friends.

“We’ve tried to reach our friends. We took loads of photos and posted them on Instagram, Facebook, all possible social networks to try to find them,” said Eleonore, 17. “But there’s nothing. No response.”

“Even the parents don’t know,” she added.

The exact number of people who were at the bar when it went up in flames remains unclear, and police have not specified how many are still missing.

Le Constellation had a capacity of 300 people, plus another 40 people on its terrace, according to the Crans-Montana website.

Swiss President Guy Parmelin, who took over on Thursday, called the fire “a calamity of unprecedented, terrifying proportions” and announced that flags would be flown at half mast for five days.

He said authorities were “in close contact with the victims’ families, whom we are informing in real time, as well as with the various embassies involved”.

“Given the international nature of the Crans resort, we can expect foreign nationals to be among the victims,” he told reporters.

The canton’s chief prosecutor, Beatrice Pilloud, said significant resources have been deployed “to identify the victims and return their bodies to the families as quickly as possible”.

‘The apocalypse’

The fire broke out around 1:30am (0030 GMT) Thursday at Le Constellation, a bar popular with young tourists.

“We thought it was just a small fire — but when we got there, it was war,” Mathys, from neighbouring Chermignon-d’en-Bas, told AFP. “That’s the only word I can use to describe it: the apocalypse. It was terrible.”

Authorities have declined to speculate on what caused the tragedy, saying only that it was not an attack.

Several witness accounts, broadcast by Swiss, French and Italian media, meanwhile, pointed to sparklers that were apparently mounted on champagne bottles held aloft by restaurant staff as part of a regular “show” for patrons who made special orders to their tables.

There were “waitresses with champagne bottles and little sparklers. They got too close to the ceiling, and suddenly it all caught fire”, Axel, a witness present at the time of the incident, told the Italian media outlet Local Team.

Pilloud said the investigation would look into whether the bar met safety standards and had the required number of exits.

Red and white caution tape, flowers and candles adorned the street where the tragedy occurred, while police shielded the site with white screens.

After the emergency units at the local hospitals filled up, many of the injured were transported across Switzerland and to neighbouring countries.

The European Union said it has been in contact with Swiss authorities about providing medical assistance, while French President Emmanuel Macron said some of the injured were being cared for in French hospitals.

Italian Foreign Minister Antonio Tajani told Italian broadcaster Rete 4 that around 15 Italians had been injured in the fire, and a similar number remained missing.

The French foreign ministry said nine French citizens figured among the injured, and eight others remained unaccounted for.

Multiple sources told AFP that the bar owners are French nationals: a couple originally from Corsica who, according to a relative, are safe, but have been unreachable since the tragedy.