Iranian: As the protests reach their twelfth day, prominent Iranian journalist and activist Masih Alinejad has called on the international world to support the current protests in Iran, stating that the Iranian people’s demands are clear.

Alinejad mentioned the ongoing demonstrations and her appearance on Fox News in a post on social media site X, writing, “On the Fox News network @FoxNews and on the twelfth day of the Iranian people’s protests: The message of the Iranian people is clear.” The populace will never let the reformists to seize power because they do not want this dictatorship.

“The regime cuts off the internet as usual; Elon Musk, help in this sensitive situation for the Iranian people to gain access to the internet,” she stated, highlighting the actions made by Iranian officials during the upheaval.

Alinejad’s demand for foreign assistance went beyond internet access, as she said, “Trump and the international community, help the Iranian people reach a secular democracy, something they deserve, from dictatorship.”

According to Al Jazeera, her comments coincide with rallies that have expanded in many Iranian cities amid a worsening economic crisis. The protests are getting more intense despite the government’s strong cautions against dissent.

Protesters burned the streets of Tehran, the capital, as huge groups marched through Borujerd, Arsanjan, and Gilan-e Gharb. In footage from Shiraz in the south, security officers were seen speeding past a roadblock with the slogan, “We revolt due to hunger.”

The protests, which are now in their second week, came after Iran’s Chief Justice Gholam-Hossein Mohseni-Ejei made forceful statements threatening repercussions for anybody engaged in disturbances. “If anyone comes into the streets for riots or to create insecurity, or supports them, then there is no excuse left for them,” he stated, alluding to what he regarded as outside influence. The situation is now quite apparent and straightforward. They are now acting in accordance with the Islamic Republic of Iran’s adversaries.

Mohseni-Ejei’s remarks, according to Al Jazeera, were connected to recent statements made by US President Donald Trump, who last week cautioned Tehran that if it “violently kills peaceful protesters, which is their custom, the United States of America will come to their rescue,” the US was “locked and loaded and ready to go.”

Seven months prior to the warning, Israeli and US soldiers destroyed Iranian nuclear targets during a 12-day fight. While expressing solidarity with the demonstrators, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu told ministers, “It is quite possible that we are at a moment when the Iranian people are taking their fate into their own hands.”

Iran’s military leadership responded to the judiciary’s warning with its own statement. Major-General Amir Hatami warned of preemptive action over what he called aggressive speech, telling pupils at a military college that Iran would “cut off the hand of any aggressor.”

“I can say with confidence that Iran’s armed forces are far more prepared today than they were prior to the war,” he said. The adversary will encounter a more forceful reaction if it makes a mistake.

Iran had a countrywide internet outage while demonstrations went on, which made communication even more difficult across the nation. As protests persisted in many locations, online monitoring company NetBlocks said that the interruption was seen throughout the country.

NetBlocks said that the apparent closure was the result of “a series of escalating digital censorship measures targeting protests across the country and hinders the public’s right to communicate at a critical moment” in a social media post on Thursday.

According to Al Jazeera, the statewide demonstrations began late last month when merchants in Tehran’s Grand Bazaar closed their doors in protest of the decline of the Iranian rial amid deteriorating economic circumstances brought on by poor management and Western sanctions.

Rights groups claim that at least 36 people have been murdered and over 2,000 have been jailed, while Iranian officials have not disclosed official fatality data. Al Jazeera says it has not been able to independently verify these claims.

Following a recent US military operation that kidnapped Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro, a close friend of Tehran, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, Iran’s Supreme Leader, subsequently pledged not to “yield to the enemy,” remarks that took on more meaning, according to Al Jazeera.

Iran’s government said on Wednesday that it will provide monthly assistance of around USD 7 to offset the growing costs of staple foods including rice, beef, and pasta in an attempt to calm public outrage. However, this step has been widely criticized as insufficient.Iran’s demonstrations, which have lasted for more than a week, are a reflection of both deteriorating economic circumstances and long-standing resentment at government brutality and regime policies that have caused Iran to become isolated internationally, according to the Soufan Center research tank in New York.