According to the reports of Monday (12 January), protests have swept across Iran for more than two weeks, driven by soaring inflation, economic hardship and growing anger over governance. According to the Human Rights Activists News Agency (HRANA), demonstrations have taken place at 585 locations across 186 cities in all 31 provinces, showing the nationwide scale of the unrest. The group reports that at least 544 people have been killed so far and more than 10,681 individuals have been arrested and transferred to prisons.
HRANA said that an internet shutdown, now in place since the thirteenth day of protests, has made independent verification of information extremely difficult, even as new data and visual evidence continue to arrive. Its verified figures list 483 protesters killed, along with 47 members of the military and law enforcement forces and one government-affiliated non-civilian. The dead also include five non-protesting civilians and eight children under 18, while 579 additional reported deaths are still under investigation.
The Institute for the Study of War (ISW) has offered a separate assessment, saying more Iranian security personnel have been killed in the current unrest than in any previous protest wave. Citing IRGC-affiliated media, ISW said at least 114 members of the Law Enforcement Command, Basij and IRGC have been killed since protests began on December 28, with Esfahan recording the highest number of casualties. ISW noted that the true number is likely higher and said the current unrest has already surpassed the 2022–2023 Mahsa Amini movement in terms of security force deaths.
International concern is growing as the violence continues. US President Donald Trump said Iran appears to be approaching or crossing a “red line” over the treatment of protesters and warned that Washington is considering “very strong options,” even as he acknowledged that Tehran has reached out seeking negotiations. He said the situation is being closely monitored at the highest levels of the US government and suggested that the authorities in Iran are ruling through violence.
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Iran rocked by nationwide protests as death toll hits 544 and thousands jailed
