Iran's president says officials will listen to protesters, but rioters aim to "destroy the entire society."
Violence surrounding the demonstrations has killed at least 116 people, AP reports.
President Masoud Pezeshkian's comment represent Iran's earlier stricter stance against protestors i.e. that they will be charged with crimes attracting the death penalty.
A day after Iranian officials warned its people that actively taking part in demonstrations would attract a death penalty charge, the Islamic republic's President has said he is open to listening to the protestors.
Speaking in an interview aired by Iranian state television, President Masoud Pezeshkian said he did not, however, have any sympathy for the rioters. Since the protests started in Iran two weeks ago, it is estimated that around 116 people have died due to the surrounding violence.
“People have concerns, we should sit with them and if it is our duty, we should resolve their concerns,” Pezeshkian said. “But the higher duty is not to allow a group of rioters to come and destroy the entire society.”
Iranian state television aired an interview with the president on January 11, 2026, a Sunday.
The comments from Masoud Pezeshkian represent a hardening tone from the reformist leader, who so far has been unable to assuage the public, as anger over the country’s ailing economy exploded into a direct challenge to the nation’s ruling regime.
Nationwide protests challenging Iran’s ruling regime saw protesters flood the streets in the country’s capital and its second-largest city into Sunday, crossing the two-week mark as violence surrounding the demonstrations has killed at least 116 people, activists said.
With the internet down in Iran and phone lines cut off, gauging the demonstrations from abroad has grown more difficult. But the death toll in the protests has grown, while 2,600 others have been detained, according to a U.S.-based Human Rights Activists News Agency.
On January 10, 2026, the Iranian government had warned that rioters would be charged with the crime of being 'enemies of god', which is a death penalty offence in Iran.
On Sunday, Iranian state television broadcast the parliament session live. Qalibaf, a hard-liner who has run for the presidency in the past, gave a speech applauding police and Iran's paramilitary Revolutionary Guard, particularly its all-volunteer Basij, for having “stood firm” during the protests.
“The people of Iran should know that we will deal with them in the most severe way and punish those who are arrested,” Qalibaf said.
