Tehran, Iran – An informed Iranian official said on Sunday that authorities have confirmed the deaths of at least 5,000 people during the widespread protests that have swept
the country since late December, noting that approximately 500 of the dead were members of the security forces.
The official, who requested anonymity, told Reuters that he accused what he called “terrorists
and armed rioters” of being behind the deaths of “innocent Iranians” during the violence.
The protests erupted on December 28th against the backdrop of deteriorating economic conditions and the collapse of the currency,
before evolving into widespread demonstrations demanding an end to clerical rule in the Islamic Republic.
harsh penalties
The official confirmed that the final death toll is not expected to rise sharply, despite ongoing investigations in some cases.
In a related development, the Iranian judiciary warned of the possibility of executing some protests.
Spokesman Asghar Jahangir stated that authorities have classified a series of incidents
as “enmity against God,” one of the most serious crimes punishable under Iranian law.
This coincided with repeated threats from US President Donald Trump to intervene if Tehran carried out mass executions,
before he later indicated that the Iranian leadership had backed away from this option.
For his part, Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei said that “several thousand”
had died during the unrest, accusing the United States and Israel of orchestrating the violence.
armed groups
In contrast, the Human Rights Activists News Agency (HRANA) reported that
it had verified the deaths of 3,308 people, with thousands more cases under review,
in addition to the arrest of more than 24,000. The Iranian official indicated
that the fiercest clashes occurred in the Kurdish regions of the northwest of the country,
where armed separatist groups are active, noting reports of armed elements attempting to infiltrate across the border from Iraq.
Despite severe internet restrictions and the difficulty of verifying information,
authorities maintain that the violent crackdown has largely quelled the protests.
