Iran protest crackdown toll at least 5,000, says rights group

The toll in the crackdown on the recent protests in Iran is at least 5,000, AP quoted activists as saying on Friday.

The protests, which began on December 28, initially focused on discontent about rising inflation. However, they later expanded as protesters in more than 100 towns demanded an end to clerical rule.

The United States-based Human Rights Activists News Agency was quoted as saying that the toll includes more than 4,700 protesters, over 200 demonstrators affiliated to the Iranian government, 43 children and 40 civilians who had not participated in the unrest.

This would make the ongoing protests the deadliest unrest in Iran in several decades.

More than 26,800 persons have been detained by the authorities in a widening arrest campaign, AP quoted the human rights group as saying.

On Wednesday, the Iranian government said that the toll was more than 3,100. More than 2,400 of those killed in the protests were civilians and security personnel and the remaining, Tehran claimed, were “terrorists”.

On January 8, the Iranian government snapped internet access and telephone lines, largely cutting off the country from the outside world. The authorities have accused the US and Israel of inciting the unrest.

The restrictions were eased on January 13, AP reported. However, text messaging services were still down and internet users were only able to connect to government-approved websites locally.

The internet shutdown has made it difficult for international human rights groups to independently verify the toll.

On Thursday, US President Donald Trump said that the US military was moving warships towards Iran “just in case” he wants to take action. “I’d rather not see anything happen, but we’re watching them very closely,” Reuters quoted Trump as having told reporters.