Iran’s death toll reaches 2,000 amid protests as U.S. warns citizens to leave immediately.
If Donald Trump plans to intervene in Iran to protect protesters from reprisal massacres, the time has arrived. While the crackdown on both the rebellion and on communications has proven severe, even officials are telling news agencies that the number of dead is rising rapidly in Tehran and elsewhere. Reuters reported that the death toll has risen above 2,000, and may be much higher than that:
Around 2,000 people have died during a ruthless crackdown on protests sweeping Iran, officials have said, as Donald Trump considers military action against Tehran.
An Iranian official told Reuters that the figure includes security personnel, as the United Nations’ human rights chief Volker Turk expressed “horror” over violence unfolding in the country.
The figure has not been independently verified, but it is significantly higher than the toll of 646 reported by activists on Tuesday. An internet blackout has meant information from the country is scarce.
The New York Times, which belatedly has begun to cover the Iranian events in earnest, puts the death toll at 3,000:
As the Iranian authorities impose a near-total communication blackout on a country convulsed by mass protests, videos and witness accounts slowly emerging suggest that the government is waging one of its deadliest crackdowns on unrest in more than a decade.
Eyewitnesses say government forces have begun opening fire, apparently with automatic weapons and at times seemingly indiscriminately, on unarmed protesters. Hospital workers say protesters had been coming in with pellet injuries but now arrive with gunshot wounds and skull fractures. One doctor called it a “mass-casualty situation.” .
A senior Iranian health ministry official, speaking on the condition of anonymity, said about 3,000 people had been killed across the country but sought to shift the blame to “terrorists” fomenting unrest. The figure included hundreds of security officers, he said.
Another government official, also speaking on the condition of anonymity, said he had seen an internal report that referred to at least 3,000 dead, and added that the toll could climb.
