Iran was largely cut off from the outside world on Friday after authorities blacked out the internet to curb expanding protests, with phone calls not reaching the country, flights cancelled and online Iranian news sites only intermittently updating.
Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei accused protesters of acting on behalf of US President Donald Trump, saying rioters were attacking public properties and warning that Tehran would not tolerate people acting as “mercenaries for foreigners”. He also told Trump to focus on the problems in his own country.
The protests, which began on December 28 over an inflationary spiral, have not approached the scale of unrest three years ago but have spread across Iran with dozens reported dead and the authorities looking more vulnerable because of a dire economy and the aftermath of last year’s war
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