Protests that erupted in late December due to Iran’s struggling economy have escalated into the most significant challenge to the government in years, resulting in at least 62 fatalities.

Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, Iran’s 86-year-old supreme leader, addressed a crowd at his Tehran residence, accusing demonstrators of destroying their own streets to appease the U.S. President. “He promised them support,” Khamenei remarked, “but perhaps he should focus on the issues within his own country first.”

Meanwhile, Iran’s judiciary chief, Gholamhossein Mohseni-Ejei, declared that protesters would face “decisive, maximum punishment without any legal leniency.”

While the White House has yet to respond, President Trump has previously vowed to take action against Iran if protestors are killed—a threat that carries added weight following the U.S. military’s recent operation targeting Venezuela’s former leader, Nicolás Maduro.

Despite efforts by Iran’s theocratic regime to sever internet and international phone connections, short videos shared online by activists appear to show demonstrators in Tehran and other areas chanting against the government amidst burning debris, as protests continued into Friday morning.

Iranian state media alleged “terrorist agents” of the US and Israel set fires and sparked violence. It also said there were “casualties,” without elaborating.

The full scope of the demonstrations that began December 28 couldn’t be immediately determined due to the communications blackout.

The protests also represented the first test of whether the Iranian public could be swayed by Crown Prince Reza Pahlavi, whose fatally ill father fled Iran just before the country’s 1979 Islamic Revolution. Pahlavi, who called for the protests Thursday night, similarly has called for demonstrations at 8pm Friday.

Demonstrations have included cries in support of the shah, something that could bring a death sentence in the past but now underlines the anger fuelling the protests that began over Iran’s ailing economy.

So far, violence around the demonstrations has killed at least 62 people while more than 2,300 others have been detained, said the US-based Human Rights Activists News Agency.

“What turned the tide of the protests was former Crown Prince Reza Pahlavi’s calls for Iranians to take to the streets at 8pm on Thursday and Friday,” said Holly Dagres, a senior fellow at the Washington Institute for Near East Policy. “Per social media posts, it became clear that Iranians had delivered and were taking the call seriously to protest in order to oust the Islamic Republic.”

“This is exactly why the internet was shut down: to prevent the world from seeing the protests. Unfortunately, it also likely provided cover for security forces to kill protesters.”

Thursday night protests preceded internet shutdown

When the clock struck 8pm Thursday, neighbourhoods across Tehran erupted in chanting, witnesses said. The chants included “Death to the dictator!” and “Death to the Islamic Republic!” Others praised the shah, shouting: “This is the last battle! Pahlavi will return!” Thousands could be seen on the streets before all communication to Iran cut out.

On Friday, Pahlavi called on Trump to help the protesters, saying Khamenei “wants to use this blackout to murder these young heroes.”

“You have proven and I know you are a man of peace and a man of your word,” he said in a statement. “Please be prepared to intervene to help the people of Iran.”

The White House did not immediately respond to a request for comment on Pahlavi’s appeal to Trump.

Pahlavi had said he would offer further plans depending on the response to his call. His support of and from Israel has drawn criticism in the past — particularly after the 12-day war Israel waged on Iran in June. Demonstrators have shouted in support of the shah in some demonstrations, but it isn’t clear whether that’s support for Pahlavi himself or a desire to return to a time before the 1979 Islamic Revolution.

The internet cut also appears to have taken Iran’s state-run and semiofficial news agencies offline. The state TV acknowledgement at 8am Friday represented the first official word about the demonstrations.

State TV claimed the protests were violent and caused casualties, but did not offer nationwide figures. It said the protests saw “people’s private cars, motorcycles, public places such as the metro, fire trucks and buses set on fire.” State TV later reported that violence overnight killed six people in Hamedan, some 310 kilometres (193 miles) southwest of Tehran, and two security force members in Qom, 125 kilometres (78 miles) south of the capital.

The European Union and Germany condemned the violence targeting demonstrators as new protests were reported in Zahedan in Iran’s restive southwestern Sistan and Baluchestan province.

Trump renews threat over protester deaths

Iran has faced rounds of nationwide protests in recent years. As sanctions tightened and Iran struggled after the 12-day war, its rial currency collapsed in December, reaching 2.1 million to $1. Protests began soon after, with demonstrators chanting against Iran’s theocracy.

It remains unclear why Iranian officials have yet to crack down harder on the demonstrators. Trump warned last week that if Tehran “violently kills peaceful protesters,” America “will come to their rescue.”

In an interview with talk show host Hugh Hewitt aired Thursday, Trump reiterated his pledge.

Iran has “been told very strongly, even more strongly than I’m speaking to you right now, that if they do that, they’re going to have to pay hell,” Trump said.

He demurred when asked if he’d meet with Pahlavi.

“I’m not sure that it would be appropriate at this point to do that as president,” Trump said. “I think that we should let everybody go out there, and we see who emerges.”

Speaking in an interview with Sean Hannity aired Thursday night on Fox News, Trump went as far as to suggest Khamenei may want to leave Iran.

“He’s looking to go someplace,” Trump said. “It’s getting very bad.”