An Iranian regional official revealed on Sunday that authorities have verified at least 5,000 deaths during the widespread protests gripping the country, among them approximately 500 members of the security forces. The official, who spoke on condition of anonymity owing to the extreme sensitivity of the issue, blamed the fatalities on “terrorists and armed rioters” whom he accused of killing innocent civilians.
The figure was first reported by Reuters and comes against the backdrop of unrest that erupted in late December, originally sparked by economic hardship but quickly morphing into the most serious challenge to Iran’s clerical establishment since the 1979 Islamic Revolution.
The official told Reuters that the heaviest fighting and highest loss of life took place in the Kurdish-majority northwestern provinces, long a hotspot for separatist activity and previous episodes of intense violence. He suggested the overall death toll is unlikely to climb much further and repeated Tehran’s longstanding accusation that Israel—Tehran’s arch-foe, which carried out airstrikes on Iranian targets in June—and various foreign-based armed factions have been arming and directing elements of the demonstrations.
By comparison, the Washington-based Human Rights Activists News Agency (HRANA) stated on Saturday that it had independently confirmed 3,308 deaths so far, with another 4,382 cases still being verified. HRANA also recorded more than 24,000 arrests connected to the protests.
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The Norway-based Kurdish human rights group Hengaw has separately drawn attention to particularly fierce confrontations in Kurdish-populated areas of the northwest during the latest wave of demonstrations.
The new disclosure arrives as street protests have noticeably quieted following a sweeping security operation and an almost complete nationwide internet shutdown that has severely restricted independent on-the-ground reporting. Iranian authorities have consistently maintained that foreign powers orchestrated and inflamed the violence, while international human rights organizations and exile networks continue to document significantly higher unofficial tolls through local contacts.
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