Activists say the death toll in Iran’s crackdown on protests reaches at least 7,000 people.
Dubai, United Arab Emirates — Number of deaths from Suppression of the protests that took place in Iran last month Activists said on Thursday that the death toll had reached at least 7,002 people, and there were still fears that many more could be killed.
The slow rise in the death toll from the demonstrations adds to the overall tensions facing Iran inside and outside the country as it tries to negotiate with the United States over its nuclear program. The second round of talks remains on hold as Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu presses his case directly with US President Donald Trump to intensify his demands from Tehran in the negotiations.
Trump later wrote on his website TruthSocial: “Nothing final has been reached other than my insistence on continuing negotiations with Iran to see whether or not a deal can be completed. If so, tell the Prime Minister that would be the preference.”
He added, “Last time, Iran decided that it was better for it not to reach an agreement, and it was hurt. That was not good for them. We hope that they will be more rational and responsible this time.”
At the same time, Iran faces mounting anger at home over its widespread repression of all dissidents in the Islamic Republic. This anger may intensify in the coming days when families of those killed begin the traditional 40 days of mourning for their loved ones.
The US-based Human Rights Activists News Agency, which presented the latest figures, was accurate in counting deaths during previous rounds of unrest in Iran, and relied on a network of activists in Iran to verify the deaths. The slow rise in the death toll came as the agency was slowly being able to verify information as communication remains difficult with those inside the Islamic Republic.
The Iranian government presented the only death toll it announced on January 21, saying that 3,117 people had been killed. The Iranian theocracy has in the past undercounted or underreported deaths resulting from previous unrest.
The Associated Press was unable to independently assess the death toll, given that authorities had disabled access to the Internet and international calls in Iran.
This rise in the death toll comes at a time when Iran is trying to negotiate with the United States over its nuclear program.
Senior Iranian security official Ali Larijani met on Wednesday in Qatar with Foreign Minister Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdul Rahman Al Thani. Qatar hosts a major US military facility that Iran attacked last June The United States bombed Iranian nuclear sites During the 12-day Iran-Israel war in June. Larijani also met with officials from the Palestinian Hamas movement, and in Amman with Tehran-backed Houthi rebels from Yemen on Tuesday.
Larijani told the Qatari Al Jazeera satellite network that Iran had not received any specific proposal from the United States in Oman, but he acknowledged that there had been an “exchange of messages.”
Qatar has been a key negotiator in the past with Iran, with which it shares a huge offshore natural gas field in the Persian Gulf. The state-run Qatar News Agency reported that Emir Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani spoke with Trump about “the current situation in the region and international efforts aimed at stopping the escalation and strengthening regional security and peace,” without going into details.
The United States has moved The aircraft carrier USS Abraham LincolnAnd ships and warplanes to the Middle East to pressure Iran to reach a deal and obtain the firepower needed to strike the Islamic Republic if Trump chooses to do so.
Indeed, American forces did so A drone was shot down They said they got too close to the Lincoln and came to the aid of an American-flagged ship that Iranian forces were trying to stop in the Strait of Hormuz, the narrow mouth of the Persian Gulf.
Trump told the Axios news site that he is considering sending a second aircraft carrier to the region. He added: “We have a fleet heading there and another fleet may be heading there.”
Meanwhile, the Norwegian Nobel Committee said it was “deeply shocked by credible reports detailing brutal detention, physical assault and ongoing life-threatening ill-treatment” in 2023. Peace Prize laureate Narges Mohammadi.
The committee that awards the award said that it has information that Mohammadi was beaten during her arrest last December, and that she is still being subjected to ill-treatment. She called for her immediate and unconditional release.
“She continues to be deprived of adequate and continuous medical follow-up while being subjected to severe interrogation and intimidation,” the committee said. “She has lost consciousness several times, suffers from dangerously high blood pressure, and has been denied follow-up due to suspected breast tumors.”
Iran has just sentenced Mohammadi, 53, to prison More than seven more years in prison. Supporters had warned for months before her arrest that she risked being sent back to prison next She took a leave of absence in December 2024 due to medical concerns.
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Associated Press writer Melanie Lidman in Washington contributed to this report.
