The death toll from Iran’s nationwide protest crackdown has risen to at least 544 people, including 496 protestors and 48 security force members, with more than 10,600 detained, according to the U.S.-based group Human Rights Activists in Iran, which warned the figures are likely to rise. The Associated Press said it cannot independently verify the toll with the internet shut down and phone lines cut off. Iranian state media reports at least 109 security officials have been killed but has released no comprehensive casualty figures
Unrest “under total control,” says Iranian foreign minister: Iran’s Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi insisted on Monday that the situation has “come under total control,” though the claim could not be verified with an internet and telecommunications blackout still in place. Araghchi made the comments to foreign diplomats in Tehran. He also claimed that western powers had turned peaceful protests “violent and bloody to give an excuse” for military intervention. President Donald Trump had previously suggested that the U.S. might intervene militarily if protestors in the country were killed. Iranian state TV broadcast footage on Monday of tens of thousands of pro-government demonstrators after the country’s president called for a “national resistance march.” Araghchi said earlier today that internet services will be restored in coordination with security authorities.
Iran’s army pledges to defend the country’s “national interests” amid protests: Iran’s army vowed on Saturday to defend the country’s “national interests,” with Iranian officials saying the protests are formally legal, while asserting that security forces are targeting arsonists and saboteurs rather than demonstrators. Authorities accused Israel and “hostile groups” of fueling the unrest, as security forces intensified the crackdown. Iran’s army warned in a statement that anyone suspected of arson could face capital charges as an “[enemy] of God.”
President calls concerns of the protestors “legitimate,” but denounces “rioters and terrorists”: Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian acknowledged the ongoing protests and said demonstrators have legitimate concerns in a statement on Sunday, while alleging that “rioters” and “terrorists” have killed security forces, emergency workers, and protestors. Iranian state media aired footage it claims shows attacks on police and acts of arson, including a deadly incident at a medical center. State television highlighted funerals held Monday—including that of a three-year-old girl in Kermanshah—while officials called for mass pro-government rallies Tuesday to condemn what they labeled “terrorism.”
A “very bloody” state clampdown in Iran: Iranian expert and Quincy Institute Vice President Trita Parsi said evidence of a “very bloody” state clampdown in Iran is emerging from people who have connected to the internet via Starlink or left the country with videos, noting that even Iranian state television is now reporting from morgues showing large numbers of body bags. “Perhaps most importantly,” Parsi said, the state TV reporter acknowledged that, while some of the dead may have been violent or armed, “the majority of them are ordinary people, and their families are ordinary people as well.”
Trump says Iran’s leaders have reached out to discuss a nuclear deal: President Donald Trump said aboard Air Force One that Iran’s leaders have reached out to the U.S.to discuss arranging a meeting for a new “nuclear deal,” while warning Washington could act first amid Iran’s violent protest crackdown. The comments followed Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi’s return to Tehran on January 9 for talks with Oman’s Minister of Foreign Affairs Sayyid Badr bin Hamad Al-Busaidi. Oman hosted indirect U.S.-Iran nuclear talks that preceded the so-called “12-Day War.”
Netanyahu is “closely monitoring” the situation: Netanyahu said Israel “strongly condemns the mass slaughter of innocent civilians” in Iran. He said he is “closely monitoring developments in Iran,” and added that he hopes that the “Persian nation will soon be freed.”
Source: Drop Site News
