Death toll from Iran protests rises to almost 2,600, rights group says

DUBAI/JERUSALEM – The death toll from protests in Iran has climbed to almost 2,600 people, a rights group said on Jan 14, as Tehran stepped up diplomatic contacts with US allies in the region over a crisis that has drawn threats of intervention from US President Donald Trump.

A renewed confrontation between Washington and Tehran, following an Israeli and US bombing campaign against Iran in 2025 targeting its nuclear programme, would further unsettle the Middle East – already battered by the two-year war in Gaza.

According to an Israeli assessment, Mr Trump has decided to intervene, but the scope and timing of this action remains unclear, an Israeli official said.

A second Israeli source, a government official, said Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s security Cabinet was briefed late on Jan 13 about the chances of regime collapse and the chances of US intervention in Iran, an arch-foe with which it fought a 12-day war in 2025.

In an interview with CBS News on Jan 13, Mr Trump vowed “very strong action” if Iran started hanging protesters but did not elaborate.

“If they hang them, you’re going to see some things,” he said. He also urged Iranians on Jan 13 to keep protesting and take over institutions, declaring “help is on the way” without giving details.

Iran holds contacts with Turkey, UAE, Qatar

Iranian state media reported that the head of Iran’s top security body, Mr Ali Larijani, had spoken to Qatar’s Foreign Minister and that Iran’s Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi had spoken to his Emirati and Turkish counterparts. The countries are all US allies.

Mr Araghchi told United Arab Emirates’ Foreign Minister Sheikh Abdullah bin Zayed that “calm has prevailed” and that Iranians were determined to defend their sovereignty and security from any foreign interference, state media reported.

The flow of information from Iran has been hampered by an internet blackout.

Holistic Resilience, a US organisation that works to expand information access in repressive or closed societies, said on Jan 13 that billionaire Elon Musk’s Starlink satellite internet service was now available for free in Iran.

US-based HRANA rights group said it had so far verified the deaths of 2,403 protesters and 147 government-affiliated individuals.

An Iranian official told Reuters on Jan 13 that about 2,000 people had been killed.

The Iranian authorities have accused the United States and Israel of fomenting the unrest, blaming violence on people it calls terrorists who have attacked security forces, mosques and public property.

Iran’s chief justice urges swift actions

Visiting a Tehran prison where arrested protesters are being held, Iran’s Chief Justice said that speed in judging and penalising those “who beheaded or burned people” was critical to ensuring such events do not happen again.

HRANA has reported 18,137 arrests so far.

State TV said a funeral procession will take place on Jan 14 in Tehran for more than 100 civilians and security personnel killed in the unrest.

Hengaw, an Iranian Kurdish rights group, has reported that a 26-year-old man, Erfan Soltani, arrested in connection with protests in the city of Karaj, was to be executed on Jan 14.

Hengaw told Reuters on Jan 14 it had not been able to confirm whether Soltani’s sentence had been carried out due to the internet and communications shutdown. Reuters could not independently confirm the report.

Pro-government rallies were held in Iran on Jan 12, a show of loyalist support for the clerical Iranian establishment.

So far, there have been no signs of fracture in the security forces that have quelled other bouts of protest over the years.

While the Iranian authorities have weathered previous protests, the latest unrest is taking place with Tehran still recovering from the war in 2025 and with its regional position weakened by blows to allies such as Lebanon’s Hezbollah since the October 7, 2023, Hamas-led attacks against Israel.

Asked what he meant by “help is on its way”, Mr Trump told reporters on Jan 13 they would have to figure that out.

He has said military action is among the options he is weighing to punish Iran over the crackdown.

“The killing looks like it’s significant, but we don’t know yet for certain,” said Mr Trump upon returning to the Washington area from Detroit, adding he would know more after receiving a report on the evening of Jan 13.

“We’ll act accordingly,” he said.

Mr Trump on Jan 12 announced 25 per cent import tariffs on products from any country doing business with Iran – a major oil exporter.

The US State Department on Jan 13 urged American citizens to leave Iran, including by land through Turkey or Armenia.

In response to Mr Trump’s social media post that “help is on the way”, Iran’s UN Ambassador Amir Saeid Iravani said the US President was inciting violence, threatening the country’s sovereignty and security, and seeking to destabilise the government.

Russia on Jan 13 condemned “subversive external interference” in Iran’s internal politics, saying any repeat of US strikes in 2025 would have “disastrous consequences” for the Middle East and international security. REUTERS