More than 2,000 people reported killed as Trump says ‘help is on its way’

More than 2,000 people have been killed in security forces’ violent crackdown on protests in Iran, a human rights group said, after President Trump promised Iranians that aid was “on the way.”

The US-based Human Rights Activists News Agency (HRANA) reported that it has confirmed that 1,850 protesters, 135 government officials and nine unrelated civilians, as well as nine children, have been killed so far in the past 17 days despite the internet blackout.

An Iranian official also told Reuters that 2,000 people were killed but that “terrorists” were to blame.

Trump said Iranian authorities “will pay a huge price” for the killings and urged people to “continue to protest.”

was weighing Military and other options in response to pressuresHe had already announced that he would impose a 25% customs duty on any country trading with Iran.

protests, It was reported that the epidemic spread to 180 provinces and districts in all 31 provinces.Iran was fueled by anger over the collapse of its currency and the rising cost of living.

These quickly expanded into demands for political change and became one of the most serious challenges to the religious order since the 1979 Islamic revolution.

The protests escalated significantly last Thursday and were met with lethal force by authorities, masked by a near-total shutdown of internet and communications services.

HRANA said in a statement on Tuesday afternoon that in addition to confirming that at least 2,003 people had been killed during the unrest, it was also reviewing reports that a further 779 people had died.

“We are appalled, but we still think the number is conservative,” Deputy Director Skylar Thompson told The Associated Press.

Meanwhile, another group called Iran Human Rights (IHR), based in Norway, said it had confirmed that at least 734 protesters had been killed.

Its director, Mahmood Amiry-Moghaddam, told the AFP news agency that the figures were “based on information received from less than half of the country’s provinces and less than 10% of hospitals in Iran,” adding: “The real number of those killed is probably in the thousands.”

Reuters said the unnamed Iranian official, who estimated the death toll at around 2,000, did not provide a breakdown of the figure. However, he added that “terrorists” were behind the deaths of both protesters and security personnel.

It is difficult to gauge the true extent of the bloodshed because the BBC, like other international news organisations, cannot report from within the country.

But videos posted online on Sunday showed people searching for the bodies of their loved ones at Tehran’s Kahrizak Forensic Center. The BBC counted at least 180 shrouded corpses and body bags in the footage.

Another video from the facility shared on Monday showed approximately 50 bodies.

“My friend went there [Kahrizak] “He went to look for his brother and forgot his own sadness,” one activist told BBC Persian on Monday.

“They piled up bodies from every neighbourhood, Saadatabad, Naziabad, Sattarkhan. So go to your pile of addresses and search there. You don’t even know an iota of the level of violence used.”

It is reported that hospitals in the capital are overflowing due to the number of deaths.

Prof Shahram Kordasti, an Iranian oncologist based in London, told the BBC’s Newsday program on Tuesday that the last message he received from a colleague in Tehran was: “In most hospitals it is like a war zone. We have limited supplies and blood.”

He added that other doctors at “two or three hospitals” also said they had treated hundreds of injured or dead people.

An Iranian living in Rasht on the Caspian Sea described the city as unrecognizable. They said, “Everywhere was burned with fire.”

Shortly after HRANA announced the latest death toll, President Trump wrote on Truth Social: “Patriots of Iran, KEEP PROTESTING – TAKE YOUR INSTITUTIONS!!! Hide the names of the murderers and abusers. They will pay a high price.”

“I have canceled all meetings with Iranian officials until the senseless killing of protesters STOP. HELP IS ON THE WAY. MIGA!!!” he added.

Trump’s national security team was expected to hold a meeting at the White House on Tuesday to discuss options for Iran.

On Monday night, US defense officials told the BBC’s US partner CBS News that Trump had been briefed on a wide range of covert and military tools, including long-range missile strikes, cyber operations and psychological campaign responses.

At the same time, Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi told Al Jazeera that Iran is ready for diplomacy but also for other options, including “if the United States wants to test the military option that it has tested in the past.” In June, the United States launched air strikes on key Iranian nuclear facilities during a 12-day war between Iran and Israel.

Araghchi also said that the Iranian government was in dialogue with the protesters, but had to take action after “trained terrorist groups” from abroad infiltrated the demonstrations and targeted security forces.

His comments echoed those of Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, who told his supporters at state-organized rallies across the country on Monday that they had “neutralized the plans of foreign enemies intended to be carried out by domestic mercenaries.”

Also on Tuesday, British Foreign Secretary Yvette Cooper He summoned the Iranian ambassador Protesting in response to what he called “the horrific and brutal killing of Iranian protesters.”

The office of U.N. human rights chief Volker Turk said he called on Iranian authorities to immediately stop all violence and repression against peaceful protesters.

He added that labeling protesters as “terrorists” to justify violence was unacceptable and that it was “extremely worrying” to see statements from Iranian officials hinting at the possibility of the death penalty being used against protesters through expedited trials.

Judiciary chief Gholamhossein Mohseni Ejei said on Monday that those involved in the unrest would be “dealt with seriously and harshly”. Some will be charged with “enmity against God,” a national security crime that carries the death penalty, prosecutors said.

According to HRANA, more than 16,780 protesters were arrested during the events.

A 26-year-old man detained last Thursday has already been sentenced to death, according to his family and the Norway-based Kurdish human rights group Hengaw.

A relative in Erfan Sultani’s family told BBC Persian: “The court imposed the death penalty in an extremely fast process, in just two days, and the family was told that he would be executed. [this] Wednesday”.

“We have never seen a case progress this quickly before,” Awyar Shekhi from Hengaw told the BBC. “The government is using every tactic it knows to suppress people and spread fear.”

Turk also demanded that Iranian authorities restore full access to the internet and other communications services.

Some international calls from Iran occurred on Tuesday, but the internet outage has now exceeded 120 hours, according to monitor NetBlocks.

A person who lives near Tehran and has access via the Starlink satellite service told BBC Persian that there are “checkpoints in every block” where cars and occupants’ phones are monitored by security forces.

New videos of recent protests have also emerged; BBC Persian confirmed the footage, which was shot in the central city of Arak and the western cities of Tabriz, Urmia and Khorramabad.

In the images from Khorramabad, Gunshots can be heard during clashes between security forces and protesters, some of whom were throwing stones.

Protesters chant “Death to the dictator,” referring to Ayatollah Khamenei, and “Reza Shah, may your soul rest in peace,” referring to the late ruler Mohammad Reza Pahlavi, who was overthrown in the 1979 revolution and whose son, Reza, lives in exile.