Tehran, Iran – Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei has accepted this matter “many thousands” Iranians have been killed since protests began in central Tehran in late December, before gradually spreading to cities large and small.
The confirmation is unusual because Khamenei has avoided commenting on the death toll during protests in Iran over the past few years.
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But there are sharp contradictions in the narratives given by the Iranian state, foreign-based opposition and United States President Donald Trump about what exactly happened during the unrest and what might happen next.
What do we know for sure?
The protests began Financial complaints On December 28, protests in the business and commercial districts of the capital city and in the days that followed turned into nationwide expressions of anger and frustration with the political establishment.
The nights of January 8 and January 9 were the deadliest so far, according to state officials and media, as well as foreign-based outlets and eyewitness accounts on the ground.
Abbas Masjedi Arani, head of Iran’s Medical Examiner’s Authority, told state media that many of the wounded had been fatally wounded in the chest or head by being shot at close range or from the roof, while others had been stabbed to death.
State outlets said most of the protesters were young Iranians, many in their 20s.
Iranian authorities completely cut off access and mobile communications on the night of January 8, making it impossible to even call rescue services in an emergency.
The unprecedented internet blackout began slowly returning on Sunday after nearly two weeks, but most of the 90-million-strong country Population remains stagnant Amid uncertainty about what the future might hold.
Local calls, SMS text messages and outgoing international phone calls have been restored in recent days. A local intranet operating with some limited services.
Street protests have now largely died down, with thousands of heavily armed security forces setting up patrols and checkpoints across the country specifically. Flashpoints like the Grand Bazaar in Tehran.
The digital blackout has made distribution of protest videos rare outside of Iran, with only a minority of Iranians able to leave the country or connect to Starlink satellite internet that bypasses the government’s internet restrictions.
What does the state say?
Iranian officials, from political to military and judicial leaders, have stressed on a daily basis that the US and Israel are behind the protests and have accused foreign powers of arming and funding the opposition.
Khamenei, Iran’s 86-year-old supreme leader, said Trump was “guilty” of directly involving himself in the unrest several times.
According to the Iranian government, armed and trained “terrorists,” not state forces, were directly responsible for the killing of thousands of people during the protests. They claim that people working on behalf of the US and Israel People were shot and stabbed to quell peaceful protests.
Judiciary officials have stressed that those who took part in the “riot” will face swift punishment without mercy. The Supreme Court and the General Prosecutor’s Office announced on Sunday that they have formed a joint task force to speed up protest-related cases.
What are foreign-based monitors saying?
Observers abroad and Iranians abroad who oppose Iran’s establishment say that state forces killed protesters in large numbers.
The latest statistics are widely cited Human Rights Activists News Agency (HRANA)which is based in the US, says more than 3,300 deaths have been confirmed and more than 4,300 people are being investigated.
The organization also said 2,107 people were seriously injured and more than 24,000 people were arrested.
Reuters news agency quoted an unnamed Iranian official in the area as saying on Sunday that at least 5,000 people had been killed, including around 500 security personnel. Most of the deaths have been reported in the Kurdish-majority areas of northwestern Iran.
Al Jazeera could not independently verify these figures.
The foreign-based outlet also reported that Iranian authorities demand so-called “bullet money” from the families of protesters killed by security forces to allow their burials or for the families to sign documents stating that they are members of the Basij paramilitary force of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) and not protesters. Iranian officials have denied both claims.
What are America and Israel saying?
US and Israeli officials have been openly cracking down on the theocratic leadership in Tehran in recent months, including during the 12-day war in June.
At the height of the protests, Trump called on Iranians to stay on the streets, alleging that “help is on the way” before expressing “great respect” for the Iranian leadership based on his claim to have halted the planned execution of more than 800 political prisoners.
The US president “talks a lot of nonsense”, Tehran’s lawyer Ali Salehi said in response to the claim on Saturday, adding that “our response will be deterrent and swift”.
But Trump did not stop his comments and on Saturday called for an end to Khamenei’s 37-year rule, calling the Iranian leader a “sick man”.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has declined to comment directly on the protests. Israeli public broadcaster Kan reported that Netanyahu had ordered his officials to stop giving interviews on the issue, as Heritage Minister Amichai Eliyahu said last week that Iran is “currently” active in Iran as it was during the 12-day war.