ISLAMABAD: Pakistan on Saturday advised its citizens to avoid traveling to Iran, citing safety concerns amid violent protests in the Islamic republic.
Protests have taken place across Iran for 13 days in a movement sparked by anger over the rising cost of living that is now marked by calls for the end of the clerical system that has ruled Iran since the 1979 Islamic revolution which ousted the pro-Western shah.
Norway-based NGO Iran Human Rights, raising a previous toll of 45 issued the day earlier, said at least 51 protesters, including nine children, have been killed by security forces and hundreds more injured.
In a statement, the foreign office in Islamabad urged Pakistani nationals not to travel to Iran for their safety and security until conditions improve.
“Pakistani nationals currently residing in Iran are urged to exercise extreme caution, remain vigilant, minimize non-essential travel, and stay in regular contact with the Pakistani missions,” the foreign office said in a statement.
It said Pakistani missions could be reached using the following numbers:
Pakistan embassy in Tehran
+98-21-66-9413-88/89/90/91 (landline)
+98-21-66-9448-88/90 (landline)
+98 910 764 8298 (mobile)
Pakistan mission in Zahidan
+98 54 33 22 3389 (landline)
+989046145412 (mobile)
Pakistan mission in Mashhad
+98 910 762 5302
+98 937 180 7175
Separately, the Pakistani embassy said it has established a crisis management unit to facilitate citizens round-the-clock.
Pakistani citizens in Iran could reach out to the following officials for any help needed during the protests: Farhan Ali at 00989107648298; Faizan at 00989906824496; and Kashif Ali at 00989938983309.
Friday’s protests followed giant demonstrations on Thursday that were the biggest in Iran since the 2022-2023 protest movement sparked by the custodial death of Mahsa Amini, who had been arrested for allegedly violating the dress rules for women.
The rallies came as Internet monitor NetBlocks said authorities imposed a “nationwide Internet shutdown” for the last 24 hours that was violating the rights of Iranians and “masking regime violence.”
Amnesty International said the “blanket Internet shutdown” aims to “hide the true extent of the grave human rights violations and crimes under international law they are carrying out to crush” the protests.
In his first comments on the escalating protests since January 3, Iran’s supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei on Friday called the demonstrators “vandals” and “saboteurs.”
“Everyone knows the Islamic republic came to power with the blood of hundreds of thousands of honorable people, it will not back down in the face of saboteurs,” Khamenei said in a speech broadcast on state TV.
Also on Friday, US President Donald Trump said it looked like Iran’s leaders were “in big trouble” and repeated an earlier threat of military strikes if peaceful protesters are killed.
“It looks to me that the people are taking over certain cities that nobody thought were really possible just a few weeks ago,” Trump said.
