Iranian protests appeared to persist in localized pockets overnight as an activist group warned of imminent executions by the state and said the civilian death toll from the unrest could be in the thousands.
The Oslo-based Iran Human Rights group said at least 648 people had died in the protests by Monday, while estimating the toll could be as high as 6,000.
It said the “risk of mass and extrajudicial executions of protesters is extremely serious.”
Photo: EPA
In one video that has been verified by the BBC as coming from a mortuary on the outskirts of Tehran, at least 180 bodies can be seen.
The US-based Human Rights Activists News Agency reported that more than 10,700 people had been detained in connection with protests by Monday, and put the death toll at 646.
Concern about the scale of fatalities is mounting, as US President Donald Trump moved to further isolate the Islamic republic over the violence, saying on Monday that he was imposing a 25 percent tariff on goods from countries “doing business” with Iran.
Trump, who has repeatedly threatened Iran with military intervention, said in a social media post on Monday that the new levies would “immediately” hit the Islamic republic’s trading partners who also do business with the US.
“This order is final and conclusive,” he wrote, without specifying who it would affect.
Iran’s main trading partners are China, Turkey, the United Arab Emirates and Iraq, economic database Trading Economics said.
The move followed reports that Iranian Minister of Foreign Affairs Abbas Araghchi reached out to US special envoy to the Middle East Steve Witkoff about a potential meeting in the coming days.
German Chancellor Friedrich Merz, who was on a two-day visit to India, yesterday predicted that the Islamic republic is in its “final days” and “effectively finished” after the two weeks of nationwide upheaval against Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei’s regime.
The Iranian government has not given any figures for civilian deaths and the state broadcaster, which has an effective monopoly on domestic news services, has repeated official claims that “terrorists and rioters” killed scores of security forces amid a continued Internet blackout.
The NetBlocks group, which monitors global Internet connectivity, yesterday said that a nationwide Internet shutdown had entered its fifth day.
Reports said some citizens were able to make international calls as of yesterday morning.
Trump has called on Starlink — which some Iranians already use, despite it being banned in the country — to help restore communication.
Connecting Iran to the Internet via Elon Musk’s service would not be easy. Owning a Starlink terminal is illegal, so equipment would have to be smuggled in.
The military is also working to jam Starlink and is hunting down any users, said Amir Rashidi, director of digital rights and security at Internet human rights group Miaan Group.
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