Iranians able to make some calls abroad as internet remains blocked amid protests

Iranians were able to place some international phone calls Tuesday for the first time since authorities imposed a sweeping communications shutdown amid a violent crackdown on anti-government protests.

Residents in Tehran said calls to numbers outside the country briefly connected, though text messaging remained disabled and internet access was still restricted to government-approved domestic websites, leaving Iran largely cut off from the outside world.

The partial restoration came as security forces maintained a heavy presence across central Tehran, according to residents, with riot police, Revolutionary Guard units and plainclothes officers deployed at key locations as authorities sought to contain unrest.

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Protests erupted in recent weeks over Iran’s deepening economic crisis, with demonstrators increasingly calling for regime change. Activist groups say hundreds of people have been killed, though the true toll remains difficult to verify due to the internet blackout and tight state controls on information.

Some government offices and financial institutions were damaged during the unrest, residents said, while merchants reported being ordered to reopen businesses despite ongoing security operations. Foot traffic remained sparse in many areas of the capital.

The unrest has drawn heightened international attention as tensions grow between Tehran and Washington. U.S. President Donald Trump has said Iran wants to negotiate with his administration following his threat to bomb the country over its response to the protests.

Iran “better not start shooting, because we’ll start shooting, too,” Trump said on Friday.

Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi told Al Jazeera in an interview aired Monday night that he continued to communicate with U.S. envoy Steve Witkoff.

The communications “continued before and after the protests and are still ongoing,” Araghchi said, adding that “Washington’s proposed ideas and threats against our country are incompatible.”

Araghchi also said that Tehran is “fully prepared for war” in the event that the U.S. attacks.

White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt told reporters that diplomacy remains Trump’s first option, but that the president “has shown he’s unafraid to use military options if and when he deems necessary, and nobody knows that better than Iran.”

“He certainly doesn’t want to see people being killed in the streets of Tehran. And unfortunately, that’s something we are seeing right now,” she added.

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Tens of thousands of pro-government demonstrators also took to the streets on Monday after days of protests challenging the rule of Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei. Iranian state television aired chants from the crowd, who shouted “Death to America!” and “Death to Israel!” as well as “Death to the enemies of God!”

Iran’s attorney general has warned that anyone participating in protests will be considered an “enemy of God,” a crime punishable by death.

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Trump announced on Monday that countries engaging in business with Iran will face 25% tariffs that would be “effective immediately” in response to Tehran’s crackdown on protests.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.