PARIS (France): A violent crackdown on a wave of protests in Iran has killed at least 648 people, a rights group said on Monday, as Iranian authorities sought to regain control of the streets with mass nationwide rallies.
The government’s call for rallies in support of the Islamic republic drew thousands on Monday, a turnout supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei hailed as proof that the protests — which the authorities attribute to foreign interference — had been defeated.
Rights groups have warned an internet blackout that monitor Netblocks says has lasted four days was aimed at masking a deadly crackdown on the protests.
The Norway-based NGO Iran Human Rights (IHR) said it had confirmed 648 people killed during the protests, including nine minors, and thousands more injuries, but warned the death toll was likely much higher — “according to some estimates more than 6,000”.
IHR added that the internet shutdown made it “extremely difficult to independently verify these reports”, saying an estimated 10,000 people had been arrested.
US President Donald Trump has repeatedly threatened to intervene militarily if Tehran killed protesters, with Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt saying on Monday that military options including air strikes were still “on the table”, but “diplomacy is always the first option for the president”. – AFP
