The president of the United States, Donald Trump, shared an unverified video on his platform Truth Social claiming that the city of Mashhad, the second largest in Iran, "has fallen under the control of the protesters."
The publication, based on content shared by the Azerbaijani channel Kanal13, claims that over a million people forced the regime's forces to withdraw, something that has not yet been confirmed by independent sources.
Mashhad, with a population of around four million and home to one of the main Shia shrines, has been one of the most active centers of the protests that have shaken Iran since late December.
The protests began due to the economic crisis, the collapse of the Iranian rial, and the rising cost of living, but they quickly evolved into a political movement against the clerical regime.
The video shared by Trump shows alleged protesters chanting slogans against the supreme leader Ali Khamenei and proclaiming the eventual return of the exiled Reza Pahlavi, son of the last shah of Iran.
However, Reuters, Associated Press, and Le Monde indicate that there is no verifiable evidence that the security forces have abandoned Mashhad or that the protesters control the city.
The internet restrictions imposed by Tehran, including partial shutdowns and mobile network blockages, make it difficult to verify the facts. According to Iran International, state forces remain deployed in Mashhad and other cities, where intermittent clashes are reported between youth and units of the Revolutionary Guard and the Basij militia.
Trump, who has publicly expressed his support for Iranian protesters, warned last week that the United States would "intervene" if the regime used lethal force against peaceful demonstrations.
In subsequent statements, however, he clarified his words and attributed some deaths to "crowd control issues," causing confusion regarding Washington's official stance.
According to the HRANA organization, at least 42 people have died since the protests began, and more than 2,000 have been detained, while Iranian media affiliated with the regime report hundreds of injuries among police and militiamen.
Although the veracity of the video disseminated by Trump remains unconfirmed, the protests in Mashhad and other cities demonstrate that social discontent in Iran has turned into a direct political challenge to the regime of Khamenei, amid an economic crisis and a growing wave of repression.
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