The figure analysts say dwarfs the death toll from any other round of protest or unrest in Iran in decades and recalls the chaos surrounding the country’s 1979 Islamic Revolution.
The death toll from protests in Iran has surpassed 2,500, the US-based Human Rights Activists News Agency reported early Wednesday as Iranians made phone calls abroad for the first time in days after authorities eased communications in their nationwide crackdown on demonstrators.
The activist group said 2,403 of the dead were protesters and 147 were government-affiliated. Twelve children were killed, along with nine civilians who it said were not taking part in protests. More than 18,100 people have been detained, the group said.
The figure analysts say dwarfs the death toll from any other round of protest or unrest in Iran in decades and recalls the chaos surrounding the country’s 1979 Islamic Revolution.
On Tuesday, Iranian state television offered the first official acknowledgement of the deaths, quoting an official saying the country had “a lot of martyrs.”
As the reported toll grew on Tuesday, US President Donald Trump urged Iranian demonstrators to continue their protests, saying that "help is on the way".
“Iranian Patriots, KEEP PROTESTING—TAKE OVER YOUR INSTITUTIONS!!!” Trump wrote on his social platform, Truth Social. He added, “I have cancelled all meetings with Iranian officials until the senseless killing of protesters STOPS. HELP IS ON ITS WAY.”
His comments came as Iranians and the world wait to see if he'd follow through on threats to militarily intervene if Tehran continues its violent and deadly crackdown on protesters.
On Tuesday evening, Trump told reporters that his administration was awaiting an accurate report on the number of protesters that had been killed before acting “accordingly.”
In response to the latest Trump threat, Iranian officials once again warned Trump against taking action, with Ali Larijani, secretary of Iran’s Supreme National Security Council, saying: “We declare the names of the main killers of the people of Iran: 1- Trump 2-” Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.
Iranians reach out, but world can’t reach in
According to Skylar Thompson with the Human Rights Activists News Agency, the new death toll was shocking, particularly since it reached four times the death toll of the months-long 2022 Mahsa Amini protests in just two weeks.
She warned that the toll would still rise: “We’re horrified, but we still think the number is conservative.”
Gauging the demonstrations from abroad has grown more difficult due to an internet blackout imposed by the Iranian authorities for several days.
Speaking by phone for the first time since their calls were cut off from the outside world, Iranian witnesses on Tuesday described a heavy security presence in central Tehran, burned-out government buildings, smashed ATMs and few passersby.
The AP reported several people in Tehran were able to call its bureau in Dubai, United Arab Emirates, on Tuesday and speak to a journalist, but the news agency was unable to call those numbers back.
Witnesses said text messaging was still down, and internet users in Iran could connect to government-approved websites locally but nothing abroad, the AP reported, just as activists said Wednesday that Starlink was offering free service in Iran.