Tehran: Since mass protests erupted in Iran at the end of last year, activists report that no less than 5,000 people have been killed.
The U.S.-based Human Rights Activists News Agency (HRANA) said it had verified 5,002 deaths so far, including 4,714 protesters, 207 state security forces, 42 minors, and 39 bystanders.
A further 9,787 deaths are still under investigation.
The HRANA report also stated that around 26,800 people had been arrested.
In contrast, the government said that 3,117 people were killed in what it called riots.
The protests began at the end of December last year.
Initially, traders were the first to take to the streets, as the country’s severe economic crisis triggered the protests.
On January 8 and 9, large-scale protests broke out in major cities, following earlier unrest, and were then brutally suppressed.
State media reported that numerous arrests were made across the country in recent days.
Further intensifying the government’s response, the Judiciary said previously that it would take harsh action against “troublemakers.”
The government blamed its arch-enemies, Israel and the United States (U.S.), for the many deaths, claiming that they deliberately carried out numerous terrorist acts on Jan. 8 and 9.
This is contradicted by videos that found their way out of the country despite the authorities’ internet block.
These videos appear to show security forces firing on unarmed demonstrators, further challenging the official account.
Never before in the history of the Islamic Republic, which was established in 1979, have so many demonstrators been killed during protests, underscoring the unprecedented nature of these events.
Reports indicate that the protests have significantly decreased in the past week, following weeks of turmoil.
