More than 5,137 people lost their lives during mass protests in Iran, the American organization Human Rights Activists in Iran (HRANA) announced today.
According to this organization, another 12,904 cases are under investigation, while at least 7,402 people were seriously injured during the unrest.
Activists warn that the process of determining and confirming the number of victims is slow due to frequent internet interruptions and limited access to information, which is why the exact scale of the violence is not yet fully known.
Official Iranian reports say 3,117 people died in the riots, while Iran’s ambassador to Switzerland said earlier that more than 2,400 people died in what he said were terrorist activities.
The protests that broke out at the end of December last year were caused by the severe economic crisis in the country. Merchants were the first to take to the streets, and mass protests swept the big cities on January 8 and 9, after which, according to reports, they were violently suppressed.
Authorities in Tehran characterized the protests as part of a foreign conspiracy, accusing Israel and the United States of destabilizing the country and causing thousands of deaths.
Meanwhile, Iran’s military has stepped up belligerent rhetoric after US President Donald Trump announced the deployment of a massive fleet to waters near Iran.
Commander of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC), Major General Mohammad Pakpour, said that the Iranian armed forces “have their finger on the trigger”, reports DPA.
