Limited internet returns in Iran after protest blackout

Limited internet access has returned in Iran, a monitor said Sunday, 10 days after authorities imposed a communications blackout that rights groups have said was aimed at masking a violent protest crackdown that killed thousands.

Iran's president warned that an attack on the country's supreme leader would be a declaration of war — an apparent response to US counterpart Donald Trump saying it was time to look for new leadership in Iran.

Demonstrations sparked in late December by anger over economic hardship exploded into protests widely seen as the biggest challenge to the Iranian leadership in years.

The rallies subsided after the crackdown that rights groups have called a "massacre" carried out by security forces under the cover of a communications blackout that started on January 8 as the protests grew in size and intensity.

Iranian officials have said the demonstrations were peaceful before turning into "riots" and blamed foreign influence from Iran's arch-foes the United States and Israel.

Trump, who backed and joined Israel's 12-day war against Iran in June, had repeatedly threatened new military action against Tehran if protesters were killed.

While Washington appeared to have stepped back, Trump hit out at supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei — in power for 37 years — in an interview with Politico on Saturday, saying it was "time to look for new leadership in Iran".

"The man is a sick man who should run his country properly and stop killing people," Trump said. "His country is the worst place to live anywhere in the world because of poor leadership."

Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian warned on Sunday in an X post: "An attack on the great leader of our country is tantamount to a full-scale war with the Iranian nation."

As leaders in Washington and Tehran have exchanged barbs, Iranian officials have said calm has been restored in the streets.

Security forces with armoured vehicles and motorcycles were seen in central Tehran, according to AFP correspondents.