The Hill – The U.S.-based Human Rights Activists News Agency (HRANA) said at least 2,571 people have died as a result of protests in Iran as of early Wednesday as government officials consider executing demonstrators.
The death toll includes 12 children, the organization reported. Additionally, nine non-protesting civilians are included among the deceased.
“Anyone who has been present on the streets since Jan. 8 onward is definitely considered a criminal,” Iran’s Minister of Justice Amin Hossein Rahimi said of ongoing riots.
According to the HRANA, 614 separate protests have swept across 187 cities. More than 18,000 people have been detained and at least 97 individuals have been coerced into confessing for their crimes on state television, per the organization.
Citizens have been restricted from the internet and from making phone calls, with government outages resulting in the blockage of international calls.
There have been hundreds of deaths per day, with the toll reportedly being larger than that of the 1979 Islamic Revolution or any other national protest in Iran.
President Trump has said he will intervene on behalf of demonstrators met with violence after the U.S. struck three Iranian nuclear sites last year amid Tehran’s 12-day war with Israel.
Iranians say they fear for their lives amid the uprising, which was sparked by concerns over a crippled economy.
“My customers talk about Trump’s reaction while wondering if he plans a military strike against the Islamic Republic,” shopkeeper Mahmoud told The Associated Press, requesting to be referred to by his first name out of concern for his safety.
“I don’t expect Trump or any other foreign country cares about the interests of Iranians,” he added.
German Chancellor Friedrich Merz on Tuesday said the Iranian government could soon cripple following the wave of national protests.
“If a regime can only keep itself in power by force, then it’s effectively at the end,” Merz said Tuesday in Bengaluru, India, according to the AP.
“I believe we are now seeing the final days and weeks of this regime. In any case, it has no legitimacy through elections in the population. The population is now rising up against this regime,” he added.