It was the 12th consecutive day of unrest that has been sparked by anger over the collapse of the Iranian currency and has spread to more than 100 cities and towns across all 31 of Iran’s provinces, according to human rights groups.

The US-based Human Rights Activist News Agency (HRANA) has said at least 34 protesters – five of them children – and eight security personnel have been killed, and that 2,270 other protesters have been arrested.

Norway-based monitor Iran Human Rights (IHR) has said at least 45 protesters, including eight children, have been killed by security forces.

BBC Persian has confirmed the deaths and identities of 22 people, while Iranian authorities have reported the deaths of six security personnel.

On Thursday evening, videos on social media and verified by BBC Persian showed a large crowd of protesters moving along a major road in Mashhad, in the country’s north-east.

Chants of “Long live the shah” and “This is the final battle! Pahlavi will return” can be heard. And at one point, several men are seen climbing on an overpass and removing what appears to be surveillance cameras attached to it.

Another video posted online showed a large crowd of protesters walking along a major road in eastern Tehran.

In footage sent to BBC Persian from the north of the capital, another large crowd is heard chanting “This is the final battle! Pahlavi will return”. Elsewhere in the north, protesters were filmed shouting “Dishonourable” and “Don’t be afraid, we are all together” following a clash with security forces.

Other videos showed protestors chanting “Death to the dictator” – a reference to Khamenei – in the central city of Isfahan; “Long live the Shah” in the northern city of Babol, and “Don’t be afraid, we are all together” in the north-western city of Tabriz.

In the western city of Dezful, footage sent to BBC Persian showed a large crowd of protesters and also security personnel appearing to open fire from a central square.

The evening protests came not long after Reza Pahlavi, whose father was overthrown by the 1979 Islamic revolution and lives in Washington DC, had called on Iranians to “take to the streets and, as a united front, shout your demands”.

In a post on X, Pahlavi said “millions of Iranians demanded their freedom tonight”, describing the protesters as his “courageous compatriots”.

He thanked US President Donald Trump for holding the “regime to account”, and called on European leaders to do the same.

Pahlavi has also called for protests to continue from 20:00 local time (16:30 GMT) on Friday night.

Iranian state media downplayed the scale of Thursday’s unrest. In some cases, they denied protests had taken place altogether, posting videos of empty streets.

Meanwhile, internet watchdog NetBlocks said its metrics showed that Iran was “in the midst of a nationwide internet blackout”.

“The incident follows a series of escalating digital censorship measures targeting protests across the country and hinders the public’s right to communicate at a critical moment,” it warned, referring to previous losses of connectivity in several cities.

[BBC]

On Tuesday, the US military’s Southern Command posted on social media that it “remains ready to support our US government agency partners in standing against sanctioned vessels and actors transiting through this region.

“Our sea services are vigilant, agile, and postured to track vessels of interest. When the call comes, we will be there.”

Before any US military operation was launched from the UK, Washington would be expected to inform its ally.

For now, the UK Ministry of Defence says it will not comment on other nations’ military activities.

The US officials quoted by CBS suggested that America could mount an operation like one conducted last month when US forces seized the Skipper,  a large crude oil tanker, flagged to Guyana, that had just left port in Venezuela.

Under international law, vessels flying a country’s flag are under the protection of that nation. However, simply changing a ship’s name and flag doesn’t necessarily change much, Dimitris Ampatzidis, senior risk and compliance analyst at maritime intelligence firm Kpler, told BBC Verify.

“US action is driven by the vessel’s underlying identity [IMO number], ownership/control networks, and sanctions history, not by its painted markings or flag claim,” he said.

Michelle Bockmann, a maritime intelligence analyst at Windward, said changing to a Russian registry could “complicate US enforcement efforts”.

“Under the UN Convention of the Law of the Sea, there’s a provision that allows a stateless vessel to be boarded by authorities. By reflagging to Russia, the vessel is no longer able to be boarded under this provision,” she explained.

Bockmann adds that she has previously observed vessels changing their flag mid-voyage, but “it’s highly unusual and only seen with dark fleet tankers”.

The potential stand-off over the oil tanker comes days after the US shocked the world with the arrest of Venezuela’s Nicolás Maduro in Caracas. It bombarded targets in the city during the operation to extricate him and his wife on suspicion of weapon and drug offences.

Since he was seized, BBC Verify has identified three US-sanctioned tankers that have switched to a Russian registry, including the Marinera.

This follows a broader trend.

Since the seizure of the Skipper,   BBC Verify has identified 19 US-sanctioned oil tankers that have switched to a Russian registry, with many of them having previously sailed under a false flag.

[BBC]