• Trump says Iran should not start shooting at protesters.
• Warns US will respond in case Iran open fires at protesters.
• Rights groups report at least 62 deaths in two weeks of unrest.

DUBAI: US President Donald Trump issued a new warning to Iran’s leaders on Friday as videos showed anti-government protests raging across the country, and authorities blacked out the internet to curb growing unrest.

Rights groups have documented dozens of deaths of protesters in nearly two weeks and, with Iranian state TV showing clashes and fires, the semi-official Tasnim news agency reported that several police officers had been killed overnight.

Trump, who bombed Iran last summer and warned Tehran last week the US could come to the protesters’ aid, issued another warning on Friday, saying: “You better not start shooting because we’ll start shooting too.”

“I just hope the protesters in Iran are going to be safe, because that’s a very dangerous place right now,” he added.

However, Trump said on Thursday he was not inclined to meet Reza Pahlavi, the US-based crown prince and son of the late Shah of Iran, a sign that he was waiting to see how the crisis plays out before backing an opposition leader.

In a televised address, Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei vowed not to back down, accusing demonstrators of acting on behalf of opposition groups abroad and the United States, and a public prosecutor threatened death sentences.

Iran’s Ministry of Information and Communications Technology said the decision to shut down the internet was made “by the competent security authorities under the prevailing circumstances of the country.”

Pakistan sets up desk to facilitate Pakistanis in Iran

Pakistan has established a special help desk at its embassy in Tehran to assist citizens as the ongoing unrest continues without any letup.

Muhammad Mudassir Tipu, the country’s ambassador to Iran, said the desk will provide guidance and support round the clock to Pakistanis in need, with dedicated phone numbers shared for immediate contact and facilitation.

Mr. Farhan Ali, 00989107648298

Mr. Faizan, 00989906824496

Mr. Kashif Ali, 00989938983309

Landline

00982166941388

00982166944888

Dozens killed in two weeks of protest

The protests pose the biggest internal challenge in at least three years to Iran’s rulers, who look more vulnerable than during past bouts of unrest amid a dire economic situation and after last year’s war with Israel and the United States.

While the initial protests focused on the economy, with the rial losing half its value against the dollar last year and inflation topping 40% in December, they have morphed to include slogans aimed directly at the authorities.

Iranian rights group HRANA said on Friday it had documented at least 62 deaths, including 14 security personnel and 48 protesters, since demonstrations began on December 28.

The leaders of France, Britain and Germany issued a joint statement on Friday condemning the killing of protesters and urged the Iranian authorities to refrain from violence.

UN spokesperson Stephane Dujarric said the United Nations was very disturbed by the loss of life.

“People anywhere in the world have a right to demonstrate peacefully, and governments have a responsibility to protect that right and to ensure that that right is respected,” he said.

The internet blackout has sharply reduced the amount of information flowing out of Iran and phone calls to the country were not getting through. At least 17 flights between Dubai and Iran were cancelled, Dubai Airport’s website showed.

Images published by state television showed what it said were burning buses, cars and motorbikes as well as fires at underground railway stations and banks.

Iranian rights group Hengaw reported that a protest march after Friday prayers in Zahedan, where the Baluch minority predominates, was met with gunfire that wounded several people.

Authorities have tried a dual approach – describing protests over the economy as legitimate while condemning what they call violent rioters and cracking down with security forces.

Last week, President Masoud Pezeshkian urged authorities to take a “kind and responsible approach”, and the government offered modest financial incentives to help counter worsening impoverishment as inflation has soared.

But with unrest spreading and clashes appearing more violent, the Supreme Leader, the ultimate authority in Iran above the elected president and parliament, used much tougher language on Friday.

“The Islamic Republic came to power through the blood of hundreds of thousands of honourable people. It will not back down in the face of vandals,” he said, accusing those involved in unrest of seeking to please Trump.

Iran’s United Nations ambassador accused Washington of “destabilising practices” and blamed it for “the transformation of peaceful protests into violent, subversive acts.”

Tehran’s public prosecutor said those committing sabotage or engaging in clashes with security forces would face the death penalty.

Fragmented opposition

Iran’s fragmented external opposition factions called for more protests and Pahlavi told Iranians on social media: “The eyes of the world are upon you. Take to the streets.”

“The sense of hopelessness in Iranian society is something today that we haven’t seen before. I mean, that sense of anger has just deepened over the years and we are at record new levels in terms of how Iranian society is upset,” said Alex Vatanka of Washington’s Middle East Institute.

However, the extent of support inside Iran for the monarchy or for the MKO, the most vocal of emigre opposition groups, is disputed.

Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araqchi said on Friday the chance of foreign military intervention was “very low”. He said the foreign minister of Oman, which has often interceded in negotiations between Iran and the West, would visit on Saturday.

Iran has weathered repeated past bouts of major unrest, including student protests in 1999, over a disputed election in 2009, against economic hardships in 2019, and the 2022 Woman, Life, Freedom protests.

The 2022 protests, sparked by the killing of a young woman in the custody of the police, drew men and women, old and young, rich and poor onto the streets.

• White House reposts video of shooting of Renee Good in Minnesota.
• Before being killed, woman heard saying, “fine, I’m not mad at you.”
• State officials vow criminal probe, citing lack of FBI cooperation.

MINNEAPOLIS: The White House on Friday reposted on social media a new video taken from the mobile phone of the immigration officer who fatally shot a Minnesota woman in her car this week, adding to the evidence around an incident that has sparked days of nationwide protests.

The 47-second video shows 37-year-old Renee Good telling the officer, “That’s fine, dude, I’m not mad at you,” moments before he opens fire after Good puts the car in gear in an apparent effort to pull back into the street.

The new clip is likely to further inflame tensions between state officials and officials in President Donald Trump’s administration, who have offered sharply different accounts of the shooting. Minnesota authorities on Friday said they were opening their own criminal investigation, after some state leaders said the FBI was refusing to co-operate with state investigators.

The video, obtained by the website Alpha News and verified by Reuters, begins as the Immigration and Customs Enforcement officer, Jonathan Ross, exits his car and approaches Good’s Honda SUV, which is partially blocking traffic. A black dog is visible through an open rear window.

As he circles around the front of the car, Good reverses farther out into the street before speaking to him through her open window. Ross then continues around the vehicle’s rear, where he films the vehicle’s licence plate and encounters Good’s wife, Becca Good, in the street. She tells him, “We don’t change our plates every morning, just so you know. It’ll be the same plate when you come talk to us later. That’s fine. US citizen.”

Becca Good, who was filming the ICE agent with her own phone, then adds: “You want to come at us? I say go get yourself some lunch, big boy.”

At that point, another ICE agent approaches Renee Good in the vehicle and orders her to get out of the car. She can be seen reversing briefly, then putting the car into gear and turning the steering wheel, apparently trying to drive away.

As the car moves forward, Ross shouts “Whoa!” Shots can be heard, and the car briefly disappears from the frame of the video as the officer’s hand holding the phone appears to flail about.

The video then shows the car careering down the street, while someone can be heard muttering, “Fucking bitch.”

Vice President JD Vance, who has accused Good of deliberately using her car as a weapon, reposted the video, saying it showed the officer’s life was endangered.

Other videos of the shooting show Good turning her wheels away from Ross as she drives forward, while he fires three shots while jumping backwards from the front of the car. The final two shots appear to be aimed through the driver’s side window, after the car’s front bumper has already passed by the officer’s legs.

It is unclear whether Ross made any contact with the car, but videos show he stayed on his feet and walked calmly towards the car after the shooting.

Officials from the Republican Trump administration have defended the shooting as self-defence and accused Good of an act of “domestic terrorism” – a narrative described by Democratic Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey as “garbage” based on the video footage.

Good was a mother of three, including a 6-year-old son. Becca Good issued a statement to Minnesota Public Radio on Friday, saying the two had “stopped to support our neighbours”.

“We had whistles,” she wrote. “They had guns.”

She also described her late wife as someone who had “sparkles coming out of her pores”.

“Renee lived by an overarching belief: there is kindness in the world and we need to do everything we can to find it where it resides and nurture it where it needs to grow,” she said. “Renee was a Christian who knew that all religions teach the same essential truth: we are here to love each other, care for each other, and keep each other safe and whole.”

Separate investigations

Mary Moriarty, the top prosecutor for Minneapolis’ Hennepin County, and the state’s Democratic attorney general, Keith Ellison, said on Friday they were opening their own probe into the shooting.

The announcement came one day after the state’s lead investigative agency, the Bureau of Criminal Apprehension, said the FBI had reversed its initial co-operation and blocked the BCA from scene evidence, witness interviews and other material.

The decision could set up separate, parallel probes into the shooting.

US officials, including Vance, have dismissed the idea that a federal officer could face state criminal charges. But Moriarty said the decision was hers to make.

“To be sure, there are complex legal issues involved when a federal law enforcement officer is involved. But the law is clear: we do have jurisdiction to make this decision,” she said.

The announcement underscored how the Trump administration’s immigration crackdown in Democratic-run cities has frayed trust between local and federal officials.

Earlier in the day, Frey accused the Trump administration of trying to predetermine the investigation’s outcome by cutting out state authorities.

“This is a time to follow the law,” Frey said. “This is not a time to hide from the facts.”

In Portland, Oregon, on Thursday afternoon, a US Border Patrol agent shot and wounded a man and woman in their car after an attempted vehicle stop. As in Minnesota, the Department of Homeland Security said the driver “weaponised” the car in an effort to run over the agent, who fired in self-defence.

Portland Mayor Keith Wilson, echoing Frey, said he could not be sure the government’s account was grounded in fact without an independent investigation.

The two shootings have drawn thousands of protesters in Minneapolis, Portland and other US cities, with more demonstrations expected over the weekend.

In both cases, Democratic mayors and governors have called on the Trump administration to pull federal officers out, arguing that their presence is sowing chaos and needlessly creating tensions on the streets.

While the operation is part of Trump’s broader immigration crackdown, the president has for months aimed political attacks at the state, particularly its large Somali-American community.

The mayor of Minneapolis called on Friday for state investigators to be allowed to join the federal probe into the killing of a US woman by immigration enforcement, accusing the Trump administration of pre-judging the case.

Minnesota officials have complained that their law enforcement has been excluded from the investigation into the killing of motorist Renee Nicole Good by a federal immigration officer on Wednesday.

US President Donald Trump’s administration has sought to paint the victim as a “domestic terrorist,” insisting that the Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) officer who fatally shot her was acting in self-defence.

“This is not the time to bend the rules. This is a time to follow the law […] The fact that Pam Bondi’s Department of Justice and this presidential administration has already come to a conclusion about those facts is deeply concerning,” Minneapolis mayor Jacob Frey, a Democrat, told a briefing on Friday.

“We know that they’ve already determined much of the investigation,” he said, adding that the state’s Bureau of Criminal Apprehension has consistently run such investigations.

“Why not include them in the process?” Frey said.

“We’re not even talking just about full control here. We’re talking about being at the table.”

On Thursday US Vice President JD Vance asserted that the ICE officer, named in US media as Jonathan Ross, had “absolute immunity.”

Minnesota officials have said that local investigators were initially invited by the FBI to participate in the inquiry, but were subsequently blocked from the probe.

Good, 37, was shot in the head on as she apparently tried to drive away from ICE in the midwestern US city as officers approached her car, which they said blocked their way.

Good was one of four people who have been killed by ICE since Trump launched his immigration crackdown and seven others have been injured, reported The Trace, an outlet that tracks gun violence.

Large, noisy crowds gathered around Minneapolis in protest on Thursday, chanting slogans against ICE. Federal immigration officers armed with pepperball guns and tear gas wrestled several protesters to the ground.

In a separate incident on Thursday afternoon, US federal agents shot and wounded two people in the western city of Portland, Oregon, local police said.

“ICE needs to get out of Minnesota, we don’t need them here, these are not criminals — and actually ICE they are the criminals,” Minneapolis resident Eleanor told AFP.