Iran protest death toll reaches 5,000 as unrest deepens, says official
Regional Iranian official blames armed rioters and foreign-backed groups for the violence, while rights groups report thousands killed and over 24,000 arrests amid protests
At least 5,000 people, including about 500 members of the security forces, have been killed in protests across Iran, a regional Iranian official said on Sunday, alleging that “terrorists and armed rioters” were responsible for attacks on civilians. The official said the figures had been verified and claimed the final toll was unlikely to rise significantly.
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The protests began on December 28 over economic hardship and, within two weeks, grew into nationwide demonstrations calling for an end to clerical rule, the deadliest unrest since the 1979 Islamic Revolution.
Kurdish regions under scrutiny
Iranian authorities have consistently blamed foreign powers for the violence, with Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei accusing the United States and Israel of orchestrating the unrest and acknowledging that “several thousand” people had died.
According to Reuters, the official, who spoke on condition of anonymity due to the sensitivity of the matter, said some of the fiercest clashes and the highest number of deaths were reported from Iran’s Kurdish regions in the northwest. Kurdish separatist groups have long been active in these areas, which have seen some of the most violent flare-ups during previous episodes of unrest.
Three sources told Reuters on January 14 that armed Kurdish separatist groups had attempted to cross into Iran from Iraq, suggesting that foreign actors may have sought to exploit the instability following days of a crackdown on anti-government protests.
Trump warns of intervention
Meanwhile, the US-based Human Rights Activists News Agency (HRANA) said on Saturday that it had recorded 3,308 deaths, with another 4,382 cases under verification. The group also said it had confirmed more than 24,000 arrests.
Also read | Iran's judiciary signals fast trials and executions for detained protesters
US President Donald Trump warned that Washington could intervene if protesters continued to be killed or executed. In a social media post on Friday, Trump said Tehran had halted planned mass executions and thanked Iran’s leadership for the move. However, Iran’s judiciary indicated on Sunday that executions could still go ahead.
“We will not drag the country into war, but we will not allow domestic or international criminals to go unpunished,” Khamenei said on Saturday, according to state media.