Iran’s supreme leader has publicly acknowledged for the first time that thousands of people have been killed in recent protests, “some in inhumane and barbaric ways.”
According to the US-based Iranian Human Rights Activist News Agency (HRANA), 3,090 people have been killed in violent responses to protests in Iran since unrest began across the economy on December 28. With the internet out, getting clear information has become extremely difficult.
Ayatollah Ali Khamenei said in a speech on Saturday that thousands of people had died during the unrest and that he blamed “repressors” for those deaths.
american president President Donald Trump recently urged Iranian anti-government protesters to “keep protesting” and threatened military intervention if security forces kill them.
The protests later turned into calls for an end to the rule of Iran’s supreme leader.
The Iranian government called the protests a “riot” supported by Iran’s enemies.
Protesters faced lethal force and footage of security forces shooting at protests was authenticated by BBC Persian and BBC Verification.
Internet and telecommunication services were also almost completely disrupted in Iran. Overall connectivity Saturday remained at around 2% of normal levels, according to cyber monitor NetBlocks.
Reports of unrest have decreased in recent days, but developments on the ground remain unclear with internet access still limited.
Prime Minister Khamenei said in a speech Saturday that Iran considers President Trump a “criminal” and that the United States “must be held accountable” for recent unrest.
He also claimed through social media that “America’s goal is to engulf Iran.”
President Trump has yet to respond to the top leader and the BBC has approached the White House for comment.
The U.S. State Department said on Saturday it had “heard reports that the Islamic Republic is preparing options to target U.S. bases.”
If Iran were to carry out such an attack, it would encounter “very powerful forces,” he said, warning Iran not to “play games with President Trump.”
Trump said Wednesday that he had been told that “the killings in Iran have stopped,” but added that he did not rule out military action against Iran.
His comments come after the United States and Britain both reduced personnel numbers at Al Udeid Air Base in Qatar.
Officials told the BBC’s US partner CBS that the partial US withdrawal was a “precautionary measure”.
