More than 2,000 people have reportedly been killed in Iran as security forces clamp down on nationwide protests, according to human rights groups, even as US President Donald Trump assured Iranians that international help was “on the way.”
The Human Rights Activists News Agency, a United States based monitoring group known as HRANA, said it had documented at least 1,850 protester deaths over the past 17 days, alongside 135 members of Iran’s security forces, nine bystanders and nine children. The group said the figures were compiled despite a sweeping internet and communications blackout imposed by Iranian authorities.
An Iranian government official also told reporters that the death toll had reached about 2,000, though he blamed the violence on what he described as “terrorists,” without providing further details or a breakdown of the casualties.
Trump reacted sharply to the reports, warning that Iranian authorities would face severe consequences for the killings. He urged demonstrators to continue protesting and signaled that Washington was weighing further action, including military and economic measures, to respond to the crackdown.
The US president has already announced a 25 percent tariff on any country that continues to trade with Iran, tightening pressure on Tehran as the unrest deepens.
The protests, which have spread to an estimated 180 cities and towns across all 31 provinces, were initially sparked by public anger over the collapse of the Iranian currency and soaring living costs. Within days, the demonstrations escalated into open demands for political reform, marking one of the most serious challenges to Iran’s clerical leadership since the 1979 Islamic Revolution.
Tensions escalated sharply last Thursday when security forces moved aggressively to disperse crowds, using live ammunition and other lethal measures, according to rights groups. The violence coincided with a near total shutdown of internet access, making independent verification of events increasingly difficult.
By Tuesday afternoon, HRANA said it had confirmed at least 2,003 deaths and was investigating reports of an additional 779 possible fatalities. The group warned that the true figure could be significantly higher.
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“We are horrified, but we believe the number is likely conservative,” HRANA deputy director Skylar Thompson said in comments reported by the Associated Press.
Another rights organisation, Norway based Iran Human Rights, said it had independently confirmed at least 734 protester deaths so far. Its director, Mahmood Amiry-Moghaddam, said the figures were drawn from information in fewer than half of Iran’s provinces and less than 10 percent of the country’s hospitals.
“The real number of people killed is almost certainly in the thousands,” he said, adding that the scale of the violence suggests a far wider toll than currently documented.
The unnamed Iranian official who cited the 2,000 figure did not explain how the number was calculated, maintaining that armed groups and “terrorists” were responsible for deaths on both sides, including among security personnel.
As international concern grows, the unfolding crisis has placed Iran under renewed global scrutiny, with fears mounting that the bloodshed could escalate further if political tensions remain unresolved.
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