No less than 5,000 killed in Iranian unrest, official says, as judiciary hints at executions

[ad_1] Some 500 safety personnel amongst these killed, Iranian official within the area says Judiciary spokesperson signifies some protesters could also be executed Trump has threatened to intervene if executions go forward Jan 18 (Reuters) - No less than 5,000 individuals have been killed in protests in Iran, together with about 500 safety personnel, an Iranian official within the area mentioned on Sunday, citing verified figures and accusing "terrorists and armed rioters" of killing "harmless Iranians".

The nationwide protests erupted on December 28 over financial hardship and swelled over two weeks into widespread demonstrations calling for the top of clerical rule - ensuing within the deadliest unrest because the 1979 Islamic revolution. Join <a data-testid="Link" referrerpolicy="no-referrer-when-downgrade" href="https://www.reuters.com/business/media-telecom/iranian-official-says-verified-deaths-iran-protests-reaches-least-5000-2026-01-18/undefined?location=article-paragraph&redirectUrl=%2Fbusiness%2Fmedia-telecom%2Firanian-official-says-verified-deaths-iran-protests-reaches-least-5000-2026-01-18%2F" class="text-module__text__0GDob text-module__inherit-color__PhuPF text-module__inherit-font__1P1hv text-module__inherit-size__EyiQW link-module__link__INqxZ link-module__underline_default__-okuC">here.

U.S. President Donald Trump has repeatedly threatened to intervene if protesters continued to be killed on the streets or have been executed. In a social media submit on Friday, he thanked Tehran's leaders, saying they'd referred to as off scheduled mass executions.

On Saturday, Supreme Chief Ayatollah Ali Khamenei mentioned: "We won't drag the nation into warfare, however we won't let home or worldwide criminals go unpunished," state media reported. On Sunday, the judiciary indicated that executions might go forward.

"A sequence of actions have been recognized as Mohareb, which is among the many most extreme Islamic punishments," Iranian judiciary spokesperson Asghar Jahangir advised a press convention.

Mohareb, an Islamic authorized time period which means to wage warfare in opposition to God, is punishable by loss of life beneath Iranian regulation.

In an interview with Politico on Saturday, Trump mentioned "it is time to search for new management in Iran".

Khamenei, Iran's utmost authority, accused the nation's longtime enemies the U.S. and Israel of organising the violence, acknowledging "several thousand deaths" . The U.S.-based HRANA rights group mentioned on Saturday the loss of life toll had reached 3,308, with one other 4,382 circumstances beneath evaluation. The group mentioned it had confirmed greater than 24,000 arrests.

The Iranian official within the area mentioned the verified loss of life toll was unlikely to get a lot greater.

"The ultimate toll is just not anticipated to extend sharply," the official mentioned, including that "Israel and armed teams overseas" had supported and geared up these taking to the streets.

The clerical institution recurrently blames unrest on international enemies, together with the USA and Israel - an arch foe of the Islamic Republic which launched army strikes on Iran in June.

HIGHEST DEATH TOLL IN KURDISH AREAS The Iranian official, who declined to be named because of the sensitivity of the difficulty, additionally mentioned a number of the heaviest clashes and highest variety of deaths have been within the Iranian Kurdish areas within the nation's northwest. Kurdish separatists have been energetic in these areas and flare-ups there have been among the many most violent in previous intervals of unrest.

Three sources advised Reuters on January 14 that armed Kurdish separatist teams sought to cross the border into Iran from Iraq in an indication of international entities probably in search of to reap the benefits of instability after days of crackdown on protests in opposition to Tehran.

The Norway-based Iranian Kurdish rights group Hengaw has mentioned a number of the heaviest clashes throughout protests that erupted in late December have been in Kurdish areas within the northwest.

The violent crackdown seems to have broadly quelled protests, in keeping with residents and state media.

Getting data has been sophisticated by web blackouts, which have been partly lifted for a number of hours early on Saturday. However web monitoring group NetBlocks mentioned the blackout appeared to have been reimposed late on Saturday.