(LifeSiteNews) — Thousands of Iranians have been killed amid the ongoing anti-regime protests in the country.
The Islamist regime has brutally cracked down on protestors who have been flooding the streets of the Islamic Republic since December 28 last year. As phone lines are opening back up for calls outside the country, the Iranian Human Rights Organization HRANA, reported on January 13 that the deaths of 2,403 protestors have been confirmed, including 12 children. According to the agency, 1,134 people suffered severe injuries.
“On the other side, 147 members of security forces and government supporters have been killed, including at least five civilian supporters of the government,” the HRANA stated.
Over 17 days, HRANA reported that 614 protest gatherings in 187 cities have been recorded nationwide. According to the human rights group, next to those deceased and injured, 18,434 have been arrested and detained by the government.
With limited information coming out of the country, the actual death toll is hard to verify. An Iranian government official put the number of those killed at 2,000, claiming those executed by the government were foreign-influenced terrorists.
CBS News cited two sources who told them that at least 12,000 and possibly more have been killed since the protests began over two weeks ago.
A video posted online that was verified by media outlets shows approximately 400 dead bodies piled up at a morgue in a suburb of Tehran, the nation’s capital. The video shows crowds of people trying to identify the dead and forensic personnel documenting the injuries, including gunshot wounds and gashes, among other severe injuries.
The nationwide protests started in late December due to anger over another spike in the cost of living in Iran’s heavily sanctioned economy. In the mass rallies, tens of thousands of citizens called for an end to the country’s regime. The government shut down phone and internet access in an attempt to prevent protestors from organizing and sharing information with the world about what is happening.
The main way some Iranians still had access to the internet, at least at times, was through Elon Musk’s Starlink. On Tuesday, SpaceX made access to its Starlink satellite service free of charge for Iranians. Despite Starlink receivers being illegal in the country, estimates suggest that there are around 50,000 such devices in Iran.
President Donald Trump has hinted at a possible U.S. military intervention in Iran several times in the recent past.
On Tuesday he wrote on Truth Social, “Iranian Patriots, KEEP PROTESTING – TAKE OVER YOUR INSTITUTIONS!!! Save the names of the killers and abusers. They will pay a big price. I have cancelled all meetings with Iranian Officials until the senseless killing of protesters STOPS. HELP IS ON ITS WAY.”
Mahmood Amiry-Moghaddam, leader of the Norway-based activist organization Iran Human Rights, said, “Iranian people are so fed up with the regime, and so desperate to come out of this system.”
“I remember that I used to ask many people, with different backgrounds, ‘Who would you support?’ And all of them basically say that we would support anyone who can remove the Islamic Republic. Iran is a country with a lot of different kinds of people, different opinions. Some would like to have monarchies, some are opposed to monarchy, but I think the priority is to remove this regime.”
According to Amiry-Moghaddam, around 80 percent of the population strongly opposes the regime. However, they are “roughly divided into three groups,” with one-third in favor of restoring the monarchy under the shah’s exiled son, one-third opposing the monarchy, and another group that is yet undecided.