At least 5,000 people have been killed in Iran during nationwide unrest that began in late December, including around 500 members of the security forces, an Iranian regional official said on Sunday, calling it the deadliest wave of violence since the 1979 Islamic Revolution.
Speaking on condition of anonymity, the official said the figure was based on what he described as “verified data” and accused “terrorists and armed rioters” of being responsible for the deaths of “innocent Iranians”. He said the toll was unlikely to rise sharply, alleging that foreign-backed groups had played a role in fuelling the violence.
The protests began on 28 December, initially triggered by economic grievances such as rising prices, unemployment and deteriorating living conditions. Within days, however, they escalated into widespread demonstrations demanding an end to clerical rule, spreading across cities and towns nationwide and posing the most serious challenge to Iran’s leadership in decades.
Independent rights organisations have reported lower, though still substantial, casualty figures. The US-based Human Rights Activists News Agency (HRANA) said on Saturday it had confirmed 3,308 deaths, with another 4,382 cases still under investigation. HRANA also reported that more than 24,000 people had been arrested during the unrest.
Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei acknowledged “several thousand deaths” in a televised speech on Saturday, but blamed the bloodshed on what he called “terrorists and rioters” allegedly supported by the United States and Israel. “We will not push the country into war,” he said, “but domestic and international criminals will not go unpunished.”
Fears of further escalation grew after Iran’s judiciary indicated that executions could go ahead against those accused of serious offences linked to the protests. Judiciary spokesperson Asghar Jahangir told a press briefing that a number of actions had been categorised as Mohareb—an Islamic legal term meaning waging war against God—which carries the death penalty under Iranian law.
According to officials and rights groups, some of the worst violence occurred in Iran’s Kurdish-majority northwest. The unnamed Iranian official said the region recorded some of the highest death tolls.
An Iranian from a northwestern town said he witnessed armed individuals disguised as protesters shooting at civilians. “They were not ordinary demonstrators,” he said. “They were carrying guns and knives.”
Access to information has been severely restricted by repeated internet shutdowns. Internet monitoring group NetBlocks said connectivity was briefly restored early on Saturday before being cut again later in the day.
