An Iranian official told Reuters on Tuesday (earlier today, January 13) that about 2,000 people have been killed amid mass demonstrations, blaming “terrorists” for the deaths of civilians and security personnel.
The figure came as Western nations and the UN responded to emerging reports of protesters being killed en masse, and German Chancellor Friedrich Merz went so far as predicting the Islamic Republic’s demise.
The demonstrations across Iran began in late December over an economic crisis, but have come to include mass calls for the fall of the regime.
As of Tuesday, estimates of the death toll varied dramatically. The Norway-based organization Iran Human Rights (IHR) said it had confirmed 648 people killed during the protests, including nine minors, but warned the death toll was likely much higher — “according to some estimates, more than 6,000.”
The Iran International news site, which is based in the UK and is critical of the Islamic Republic, claimed at least 12,000 people have been killed in recent days — far beyond any other report. The site claimed this is the estimate used internally by Iran’s own security authorities.
As of Tuesday, estimates of the death toll varied dramatically. The Norway-based organization Iran Human Rights (IHR) said it had confirmed 648 people killed during the protests, including nine minors, but warned the death toll was likely much higher — “according to some estimates, more than 6,000.”
The Iran International news site, which is based in the UK and is critical of the Islamic Republic, claimed at least 12,000 people have been killed in recent days — far beyond any other report. The site claimed this is the estimate used internally by Iran’s own security authorities.
Iran International said it compiled and cross-referenced the information from multiple sources, including a source close to the Supreme National Security Council and the Iranian presidential office, as well as sources in the IRGC, witness accounts, and information from medical officials.
“This data was examined and verified through multiple stages and in accordance with strict professional standards before being announced,” it said.
Iran’s FM: Internet cut amid anti-regime ‘terrorist operations’
Speaking to Al Jazeera on Tuesday, Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi defended the regime’s move to cut off internet access across the country last week, a blackout that is ongoing.
“The government was in dialogue with the protesters. The internet was cut only after we confronted terrorist operations and realized orders were coming from outside the country,” he said.
Iran has blamed “America and the Zionist regime,” referring to Israel, for the protests. The US has threatened military intervention, but has also backed the demonstrations as an organic opposition movement and said it favors diplomacy. Israel has similarly endorsed the protests, but otherwise kept a low profile amid the unrest while warning of a possible attack by Iran.
On Tuesday, Iranian security forces claimed to have arrested what a state television report described as terrorist groups linked to Israel in the southeastern city of Zahedan.
The report, without providing additional details, said the group entered through Iran’s eastern borders and carried US-made guns and explosives that the group had planned to use in assassinations and acts of sabotage.
UN denounces ‘horrific violence,’ EU vows more sanctions
International bodies denounced Tehran for its crackdown.
European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen said on X that the EU will “swiftly” propose “further sanctions on those responsible for the repression.”
She said the “rising number of casualties in Iran is horrifying. I unequivocally condemn the excessive use of force and continued restriction of freedom.”
“We stand with the people of Iran who are bravely marching for their liberty,” von der Leyen wrote.
UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Volker Turk said in a statement read by a spokesman that the “cycle of horrific violence cannot continue. The Iranian people and their demands for fairness, equality and justice must be heard.”
He also voiced concern that the death penalty might be used against thousands of protesters who have been arrested.
Responding to the possibility of US intervention, however, spokesman Jeremy Laurence said there is “concern that (the protests) have been instrumentalized, and they shouldn’t be instrumentalized by anyone.”
Germany’s Merz: Iran’s regime in its ‘last days and weeks’
In the Netherlands, Dutch Foreign Minister David van Weel said he’d summoned Iran’s ambassador to protest against the “excessive” violence
German Chancellor Freidrich Merz, during a visit to India on Tuesday, went a step further, predicting that “we are now witnessing the last days and weeks of this regime.”
“When a regime can only maintain power through violence, then it is effectively at its end. The population is now rising up against this regime,” he said.
Iran’s leaders have “no legitimacy” as they were not elected by the people and the population is now “rising up,” Merz said, adding: “I hope that there is a way to end this conflict peacefully.”
He said Germany was in contact with the United States and other European governments with the aim of ensuring “that there can be a peaceful transition to a democratic government in Iran.”
He did not comment on Germany’s trade ties with Iran. Germany maintains limited trade relations with Iran despite significant restrictions, making Berlin Tehran’s most important trading partner in the European Union.
US President Donald Trump said on Monday that any country that does business with Iran will face a tariff rate of 25% on trade with the United States.
-Times of Israel
