Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei signaled that security forces would clamp down on protesters after overnight marches through the streets as the country continues to see demonstrations.

Overnight, Iran was plunged into a nationwide internet blackout as anti-regime protests intensified. The blackout severely restricted communications across the country as demonstrations enter their second week and the death toll reportedly reaches 44. Live network data from NetBlocks showed internet traffic collapsing in the troubled nation on Thursday evening, shortly after calls circulated for mass protests at 8 p.m. local time.

Khamenei's warning about security forces came just days after President Donald Trump vowed the U.S. would intervene if peaceful Iranian protesters were met with violence at the hands of the regime.

"If Iran shots and violently kills peaceful protesters, which is their custom, the United States of America will come to their rescue. We are locked and loaded and ready to go," Trump wrote in a Truth Social post on Jan. 2.

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Trump reiterated the statement during an interview with Hugh Hewitt on Thursday and said that if the regime forces were to kill protesters, "they will be hit very hard." The remark was posted on the State Department's Farsi feed.

The Iranian leader dismissed Trump's statements, saying that the U.S. president's hands were "stained with the blood of Iranians" as supporters shouted "Death to America!" in footage aired on Iranian state TV, according to The Associated Press.

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Khamenei said that Iranian protesters were "ruining their own streets to make the president of another country happy," referring to Trump.

Short videos purportedly showing protests against the regime still circulated before the blackout cut the nation from the internet and international calls, according to the AP. The outlet noted that the videos appeared to show protesters chanting against the Iranian regime around bonfires as debris littered the streets in Tehran and other areas in the country. Iranian state media claimed "terrorist agents" from the U.S. and Israel set the fires and sparked the violence, the AP reported.

Exiled Iranian Crown Prince Reza Pahlavi, whose father, Shah Mohammad Reza Pahlavi, fled Iran just before the 1979 Islamic Revolution, called for the protests on Thursday night. Pahlavi said on X that he was proud of all those who demonstrated against the regime on Thursday night.

"I am proud of each and every one of you who took over the streets across Iran on Thursday night... You saw how the massive crowds forced the repressive forces to retreat," Pahlavi said. "Those of you who were hesitant, join your fellow compatriots on Friday night."

Pahlavi encouraged protests on Friday to be even larger than the ones that took place the night before, saying it would further weaken the Islamic Republic's regime. He also expressed his faith that the people in the streets would not give up in the face of internet blackouts, assuring the protesters that the victory belonged to them.

Fox News Digital reached out to the White House for comment.

The Associated Press and Fox News Digital's Emma Bussey contributed to this report.

Russia's Defense Ministry said it used a new Oreshnik intermediate-range ballistic missile Friday in a deadly strike on Ukraine.

Four people were killed and at least 22 were injured, according to Ukrainian authorities.

Russia said the attack was retaliation for what Moscow claimed was a Ukrainian drone strike on Russian President Vladimir Putin’s residence last month. Both Ukraine and President Donald Trump have disputed that claim.

The attack occurred hours after Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy alerted the nation that Russia intended to launch a large-scale offensive.

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Zelenskyy said that Russia was aiming to take advantage of the frigid weather in the capital, which made roads and streets icy.

The missile traveled at a speed of more than 8,000 miles per hour, according to the Western Command of Ukraine's Air Force.

Several districts in Kyiv were hit in the attack and an emergency medical aid worker was among those killed, according to Kyiv City Military Administration head Tymur Tkachenko.

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Ukraine's security service said that five rescue workers suffered injuries while responding to the site of ongoing attacks.

A drone crashed onto the roof of a multistory building in the Desnyanskyi district and the first two floors of a residential building were also damaged as a result of the attack.

Running water and electricity were disrupted in parts of the capital, Kyiv's Mayor Vitali Klitschko said.

The latest attack also involved other ground-and-sea-launched missiles targeting Ukraine’s critical infrastructure the western city of Lviv, according to its mayor, Andriy Sadoviy.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.