DUBAI, United Arab Emirates — The nationwide protests challenging Iran's theocracy appeared increasingly smothered Thursday, a week on from authorities shutting the country off from the world and escalating a bloody crackdown that activists say killed at least 2,615 people.
In Iran's capital, Tehran, witnesses say recent mornings saw no new signs of bonfires lit the night before or debris in the streets. The sound of gunfire, which had been intense for several nights, has faded. Meanwhile, Iranian state media announces wave after wave of arrests by authorities, targeting those it calls "terrorists" and also apparently looking for Starlink satellite internet dishes, the only way to get videos and images out to the internet.
“Since Jan. 8, we saw a full-fledged war and anybody who was in the gathering since then is a criminal," said Justice Minister Amin Hossein Rahimi, according to a report Wednesday from the judiciary's Mizan news agency.
But as Iran tries to assert control at home, it faces challenges abroad. The Islamic Republic shut down its airspace for hours early Thursday morning without explanation, something it has done in previous rounds of attacks between it and Israel, as well as during the 12-day war in June. The U.S. also took steps to move some personnel from Qatar's Al Udeid Air Base while also warning diplomats in Kuwait to stay away from military bases with American troops stationed there.
Airspace shut
The closure ran for over four hours, according to pilot guidance issued by Iran, which lies on a key East-West flight route. International carriers diverted north and south around Iran, but after one extension, the closure appeared to have expired and several domestic flights were in the air just after 7 a.m.
Around midday, Iranian state television carried a statement from the country's Civil Aviation Authority saying that the nation's “skies are hosting incoming and outgoing flights, and airports are providing services to passengers.” It did not acknowledge the closure.
Iran previously shut its airspace during the 12-day war against Israel in June and when it exchanged fire with Israel during the Israel-Hamas war. However, there were no signs of current hostilities though the closure immediately rippled through global aviation.
“Several airlines have already reduced or suspended services, and most carriers are avoiding Iranian airspace,” said the website SafeAirspace, which provides information on conflict areas and air travel. “The situation may signal further security or military activity, including the risk of missile launches or heightened air defense, increasing the risk of misidentification of civil traffic.”
Iran in the past has misidentified a commercial aircraft as a hostile target. In 2020, Iranian air defense shot down Ukraine International Airlines Flight PS752 with two surface-to-air missiles, killing all 176 people on board. Iran for days adamantly dismissed allegations of downing the plane as Western propaganda before finally acknowledging it.
Iran protests spark reaction abroad
Videos of demonstrations broadly have stopped coming out of Iran, likely signaling the slowdown of their pace under the heavy security force presence in major cities. But in the meantime, protests against Iran have been held around the world as global attention has focused on the crackdown.
The U.N. Security Council scheduled an emergency meeting on Iran at the request of the United States on Thursday afternoon.
U.S. President Donald Trump made a series of vague statements Wednesday that left unclear what American action, if any, would take place against Iran.
In comments to reporters, Trump said he had been told that plans for executions in Iran have stopped, without providing many details. The shift comes a day after Trump told protesters in Iran that “help is on the way” and that his administration would “act accordingly” to respond to the Islamic Republic’s deadly crackdown.
Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi also sought to tone down the rhetoric, urging the U.S. to find a solution through negotiation.
Asked by Fox News what he would say to Trump, Araghchi said: “My message is: Between war and diplomacy, diplomacy is a better way, although we don’t have any positive experience from the United States. But still diplomacy is much better than war.”
The change in tone by the U.S. and Iran came hours after the chief of the Iranian judiciary said the government must act quickly to punish the thousands who have been detained.
Activists warned that hangings of detainees could come soon. The security forces' crackdown on the demonstrations has killed at least 2,615, the U.S.-based Human Rights Activists News Agency reported, warning it likely would rise even higher. The death toll exceeds that of any other round of protest or unrest in Iran in decades and recalls the chaos surrounding the country's 1979 Islamic Revolution.
The U.S.-based agency, founded 20 years ago, has been accurate throughout multiple years of demonstrations, relying on a network of activists inside Iran that confirms all reported fatalities.
With communications greatly limited in Iran, the AP has been unable to independently confirm the group’s toll. The theocratic government of Iran has not provided overall casualty figures for the demonstrations.
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