Iran protests turn more violent with 65 reportedly killed by Friday and over 2,300 arrested as authorities imposed an internet blackout amid nationwide anti-regime unrest.

In a serious challenge to Iran’s authoritarian government, angry protests have spread from the markets and universities of major cities to the impoverished towns in the hinterland.

Several Iranians who protested in Iran over the past few days have spoken to CNN about seeing enormous crowds as well as brutal violence on the streets of Tehran, with one woman saying she saw “bodies piled up on each other” in a hospital.

Videos emerging despite internet and mobile phone blackout show demonstrations continuing amid reports of escalating crackdown

US Airlines flights suspended alongside Lufthansa flydubai Turkish Airlines AJet Pegasus Qatar Airways and Austrian Airlines as anti-government protests cripple Iran entering third week with 45-100 deaths amid internet blackouts and security crackdowns.

Iranian authorities shut down internet and phone services as protests continued into a second week, limiting the flow of information out of the country.

Iran's Revolutionary Guards warned on Saturday that safeguarding security was a "red line" and the military vowed to protect public property, as the clerical establishment stepped up efforts to quell the most widespread protests in years.

Fresh demonstrations were reported late on Saturday in Tehran, the northern city of Rasht and other towns, according to the Hengaw Organization for Human Rights. Hengaw said three demonstrators were killed in the Rasht area,