At least 5,000 Iranians killed in unrest, official says; judiciary hints at executions

At least 5,000 people have been killed in protests in Iran, including about 500 security personnel, an Iranian official in the region said on Sunday, citing verified figures ‍and accusing "terrorists and ‌armed rioters" of killing "innocent Iranians."

The nationwide protests erupted on December 28 over economic hardship and swelled ⁠over two weeks into widespread demonstrations calling ‍for the end of clerical rule - resulting in the deadliest unrest since the 1979 Islamic revolution.

US President Donald Trump has repeatedly threatened to intervene if protesters continued to be killed on the streets or were executed.

In a social media post on Friday, ‍he thanked Tehran's leaders, saying they had called off scheduled mass executions.

On Saturday, Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei said: "We will not ‍drag the country into war, but we will not let domestic or international criminals go unpunished," state media reported.

On Sunday, the judiciary indicated that executions may go ahead.

"A series of actions have been identified as Mohareb, which is among the most severe Islamic punishments," Iranian judiciary spokesperson Asghar Jahangir told a press conference.

Mohareb, an Islamic legal term meaning to wage war against God, is punishable by death under Iranian law.

Demonstrators hold placards during a rally in support of the Iranian people in Rome Capitoline Hill on Saturday. AFP

In an interview with Politico on Saturday, Trump said "it's time to look for ‌new leadership in Iran."

Khamenei, Iran's utmost authority, accused the country's longtime enemies the U.S. and Israel of ‍organising the violence, acknowledging "several thousand deaths."

The US-based HRANA rights group said on Saturday the death toll had reached 3,308, with another 4,382 cases under review.

The group said it had confirmed more than 24,000 arrests.

The Iranian official in the region said the ​verified death toll was unlikely to get much higher.

"The final toll is not expected to increase sharply," the official said, adding that "Israel and armed groups abroad" had supported and equipped those taking to the streets.

Iranians attend a pro-government rally in Tehran. Reuters

The clerical establishment regularly blames unrest on foreign enemies, including the United ​States and Israel - ‍an arch foe of the Islamic Republic which launched military strikes on Iran in June.

HIGHEST DEATH TOLL IN KURDISH AREAS

The ‌Iranian official, who declined to be named due to the sensitivity of the issue, also said some of the heaviest clashes and highest number of deaths were in the Iranian Kurdish areas in the country's northwest. Kurdish separatists have been active in those areas and ​flare-ups there have been ‌among the most violent in past periods of unrest.

Three sources told Reuters on January 14 that armed Kurdish separatist groups sought to cross the border into Iran from Iraq in a sign of foreign entities potentially seeking to take advantage of instability after days of crackdown on protests against Tehran.

The Norway-based Iranian Kurdish rights group Hengaw has said some of the heaviest ‌clashes during protests that erupted in late December were in Kurdish areas in the northwest.

The violent crackdown appears to have broadly quelled protests, according to residents and state media.

Getting information has been complicated by internet blackouts, which were partly lifted for a few hours early on Saturday. But internet monitoring group NetBlocks said the blackout seemed ‍to have been reimposed late on Saturday.

Reuters