Iran protest death toll tops 500 as US-Iran tensions rise
A rights group says deaths linked to Iran’s protests have topped 500, with more than 10,600 arrests reported in two weeks, as tensions with Washington escalate.
- A US-based rights group reports that the death toll from recent protests in Iran has surpassed 500, including 490 protesters and 48 security personnel.
- Tensions have escalated as US President Donald Trump warned of possible intervention against Iran, stating that "very strong options," including potential military strikes, are being considered.
- In response to US warnings, Iran's parliament speaker threatened that US and Israeli assets would be viewed as legitimate targets if Iran were attacked.
A rights group says Iran’s protests have left more than 500 people dead, as tensions with Washington rose after President Donald Trump renewed warnings of possible intervention if force is used against demonstrators.
The US-based Human Rights Activists News Agency (HRANA), citing activists inside and outside Iran, said it had verified 490 deaths among protesters and 48 among security personnel.
It also reported more than 10,600 arrests over two weeks of unrest. Iran has not released an official toll, and Reuters said it could not independently verify the figures.
The demonstrations began on 28 December over soaring prices and later broadened into calls against Iran’s clerical leadership, which has governed since the 1979 Islamic Revolution.
Iranian authorities have blamed the United States and Israel for stirring trouble, while state media reported a call for a nationwide rally on Monday to condemn what it described as “terrorist actions led by the United States and Israel.
Trump told reporters on Sunday night that the US military was “looking at it” and that “very strong options” were being considered.
A US official told Reuters that Trump was due to meet senior advisers on Tuesday to discuss options. The Wall Street Journal reported that possibilities included military strikes, covert cyber measures, tougher sanctions and online support for anti-government sources.
Iran’s parliament speaker, Mohammad Baqer Qalibaf, warned Washington against what he called a “miscalculation, saying that if Iran were attacked, Israel and US bases, ships, and other assets would be viewed as legitimate targets.
Information from Iran has been restricted by an internet blackout since Thursday. Social media footage posted on Saturday showed crowds in Tehran marching at night, clapping and chanting, while videos from Mashhad appeared to show fires, debris and explosions. Reuters said it verified the locations.
State television aired images from the Tehran coroner’s office, and from people waiting outside a forensic medical centre in the capital, while attributing deaths to events it said were caused by “armed terrorists”.
UN Secretary-General António Guterres said he was shocked by reports of violence by Iranian authorities and urged maximum restraint, calling for rights to expression, association and peaceful assembly to be respected.
Iranian authorities, meanwhile, declared three days of national mourning for those described in state media as “martyrs” killed in resistance against the United States and Israel.
Three Israeli sources said Israel was on high alert over the possibility of any US intervention.
Israel and Iran fought a 12-day war in June 2025, which the United States briefly joined by striking nuclear installations, according to the report. Iran later fired missiles at Israel and a US air base in Qatar.
Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian accused Israel and the United States of masterminding destabilisation.
In a TV interview, he urged families not to let young people join what he called “rioters and terrorists, while saying the government was ready to listen and address economic problems.
Iran also summoned Britain’s ambassador on Sunday over “interventionist comments” attributed to the British foreign minister, and over an incident in which a protester removed Iran’s flag from the country’s London embassy and replaced it with a pre-1979 style flag. Britain’s Foreign Office did not immediately comment.
Alan Eyre, a former US diplomat and Iran specialist, told Reuters he doubted the protests would topple the establishment, but said they could leave it significantly weakened.
Iranian state TV broadcast funeral processions for security personnel killed in the unrest, and reported further burials and deaths among the security forces.
In a social media post on Saturday, Trump said Iran was “looking at FREEDOM” and that the United States “stands ready to help.
An Israeli source said Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and US Secretary of State Marco Rubio discussed the prospect of US intervention in a phone call on Saturday.
Protests in support of Iran’s demonstrators were also reported in the United States. KNBC reported that in Los Angeles’ Westwood neighbourhood, a rental truck drove into a crowd at a rally backing the protesters.
Reza Pahlavi, the exiled son of Iran’s last shah, praised what he described as Iranians’ bravery and urged demonstrators not to leave the streets in a post on X.
Reuters
