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At least 734 people have been confirmed killed during Iran’s security force crackdown on nationwide anti-government protests, according to Norway-based NGO Iran Human Rights (IHR), AFP reports. The group said the real death toll is likely far higher, possibly in the thousands.
IHR director Mahmood Amiry-Moghaddam said the organization’s figures are based on information from fewer than half of Iran’s provinces and under 10% of hospitals.
Among those confirmed killed are at least nine minors, with thousands more reported injured.
Information emerging as limited phone access is restored suggests the crackdown may be far deadlier than previously reported.
Sources cited by CBS News said at least 12,000 people may have been killed, with some estimates reaching as high as 20,000. These figures have not been independently verified.
Britain’s Foreign Secretary Yvette Cooper told Parliament the UK believes around 2,000 people may have been killed, adding that the final number could be significantly higher.
Reuters cited an unnamed Iranian official as saying about 2,000 people have died since protests began on Dec. 28, blaming the violence on foreign-backed “terrorists.”
Iranian officials have not released regular official casualty figures.
CBS News verified video posted online showing hundreds of bodies lined up at a morgue in a Tehran suburb.
The footage appears to show forensic teams documenting severe injuries, including gunshot wounds, while families attempt to identify the dead.
The video was shared by an Iranian activist known as Vahid Online, who said it was sent by a source who traveled hundreds of miles to upload it amid the communications blackout.
The protests, sparked in late December by anger over rising living costs and economic hardship, spread to all 31 provinces. Tens of thousands of demonstrators called for the downfall of Iran’s Islamic rulers.
Internet access and text messaging services remained blocked for days, complicating efforts to verify casualty figures. Rights groups have consistently said their tallies likely underestimate the true scale of deaths.
US President Donald Trump warned that if the Iranian regime continued killing protesters, the United States would take action, without specifying what form it might take.
“Iranian Patriots, KEEP PROTESTING — TAKE OVER YOUR INSTITUTIONS!!! … I have cancelled all meetings with Iranian Officials until the senseless killing of protesters STOPS. HELP IS ON ITS WAY,” Trump wrote on social media.
The White House said Trump’s national security team was scheduled to meet to discuss options, though details were not disclosed.
Amiry-Moghaddam said the crackdown was “much worse than we can even imagine,” arguing that international “red lines” have been crossed.
He urged global powers to help Iranians maintain communication with the outside world, saying the internet shutdown leaves the population isolated as violence continues.
He said his organization received footage of a reported attack in Mazandaran province that allegedly killed 75 people, though details could not be shared to protect sources.
Rights groups say the scale of the crackdown, even at lower confirmed figures, would mark one of the deadliest episodes of repression in Iran since the 1979 Islamic Revolution.
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