Iran's president warned that an attack on the country's supreme leader would be a declaration of war – an apparent response to US counterpart Donald Trump saying it was time to look for new leadership in Iran.
Limited internet access briefly returned in Iran before dropping again, a monitor said Sunday, 10 days into a communications blackout that rights groups said aimed to mask a protest crackdown that killed thousands.
Demonstrations sparked in late December by anger over economic hardship exploded into protests widely seen as the biggest challenge to the Iranian leadership in years.
The rallies subsided after the crackdown that rights groups have called a "massacre" carried out by security forces under the cover of a communications blackout that started on January 8.
Monitor Netblocks said late Sunday that "traffic levels have fallen after a brief, heavily filtered restoration of select Google and messaging services in Iran".
Read moreIran internet shutdown: activists warn of 'permanent' blackout
Iranian officials have said the demonstrations were peaceful before turning into "riots" and blamed foreign influence from Iran's arch-foes the United States and Israel.
Trump, who joined Israel's 12-day war against Iran in June, had repeatedly threatened new military action against Tehran if protesters were killed.
While Washington appeared to have stepped back, Trump hit out at supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei in an interview with Politico on Saturday, saying it was "time to look for new leadership in Iran".
"The man is a sick man who should run his country properly and stop killing people," Trump said.
Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian on Sunday warned on X: "An attack on the great leader of our country is tantamount to a full-scale war with the Iranian nation."
As leaders in Washington and Tehran have exchanged barbs, Iranian officials have said calm has been restored in the streets.
Security forces with armoured vehicles and motorcycles were seen in central Tehran, according to AFP correspondents.
'Cannot just stay silent'
Schools reopened on Sunday after a week of closure.
Pezeshkian meanwhile told a cabinet meeting that he "recommended to the secretary of the Supreme National Security Council that internet restrictions be lifted as soon as possible".
Some users reported access to WhatsApp, while outgoing international calls had resumed since Tuesday, and text messaging was restored Saturday.
Fars news agency on Sunday reported that the chief executive of Irancell, Iran's second-largest mobile phone operator, was dismissed for failing to comply with the government's decision to shut down the internet.
Solidarity demonstrations have continued in multiple cities in recent days, including in Berlin, London and Paris.
Despite the restrictions, information had still filtered out, with reports of atrocities emerging, according to rights groups.
Hundreds rally in Paris against Iran’s crackdown on protesters
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© FRANCE 24
01:06
Amnesty International said it had verified dozens of videos and accounts in recent days showing a "massacre of protesters" by security forces.
Norway-based Iran Human Rights says it has verified the deaths of 3,428 protesters killed by security forces, confirming cases through sources within the Islamic republic's health and medical system, witnesses and independent sources.
However, the NGO warns the true toll is likely far higher. Media cannot independently confirm the figure and Iranian officials have not given an exact death toll for the protests.
Other estimates place the death toll at more than 5,000 – and possibly as high as 20,000 – though the internet blackout has severely hampered independent verification, IHR says.
The overseas-based opposition Iran International channel has said at least 12,000 people were killed during the protests, citing senior government and security sources.
Iran's judiciary has rejected that figure.
(FRANCE 24 with AFP)
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