Iran protests leave 36 dead, rights group says

The death toll in growing anti-regime protests in Iran reached 36 on Tuesday, according to a rights group, as opposition media reported that massive street demonstrations completely swamped Abdanan, a Kurdish city in the western part of the country.

The U.S.-based Human Rights Activists News Agency reported that 30 protesters, four children and two members of Iran’s security forces have been killed in the unrest, which since starting on Dec. 28, according to HRANA, has spread to over 280 locations in 27 of Iran’s 31 provinces. The group also said that authorities have arrested more than 2,000 people.

Nationwide protests, the largest in three years, have erupted in anger over soaring inflation and a plunging currency, with the rial falling to a record low of 1.46 million to the dollar on Tuesday. The protests have widened to include calls to overthrow the Islamist government in Tehran. Strikes have also been a part of the movement.

In Abdanan, opposition-linked sources reported that protestors shouted slogans such as “Death to Khamenei!” and “Death to the dictator!”

Opposition channels reported that security forces cut electricity to the city, with no effect. Law enforcement units retreated to the roof of the police station, where videos circulating online show officers pleading with protesters not to attack them.

Protesters also looted and set fire to branches of the Ofog Korush retail chain, a symbol of corruption linked to the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, according to the National Council of Resistance of Iran, which describes itself as a “democratic political coalition founded in Tehran in July 1981, which has steadfastly sought an end to religious dictatorship and promotes a free and democratic Iran based on its platform.”

The NCRI also reported on unrest in Malekshahi in the western province of Ilam, including a violent crackdown by security forces. The Center for Human Rights in Iran said on Monday that security forces fired directly on demonstrators, killing at least four people, including at least one child, and injuring many others.

“Islamic Republic security forces are again gunning down protesters and killing and disappearing children in a systematic effort to crush dissent,” said Hadi Ghaemi, executive director of the New York City-based group.

“The targeting of children, hospitals, and medical personnel represents especially grave violations of international human rights law, adding to the regime’s long list of crimes against humanity,” Ghaemi continued.

“Hundreds of families in Iran are still grieving their dead from the state’s massacres during the Woman, Life, Freedom protests; this regime has shown it will slaughter as many civilians as it needs to quiet the streets—the international community must speak out against this carnage,” he said.

Citing witnesses, the Associated Press reported on Tuesday that protesters conducted a sit-in at Tehran’s Grand Bazaar as security forces eventually fired tear gas to disperse the demonstrators while the rest of the market closed.

The theocratic dictatorship is also dealing with the reimposition of economic sanctions over nuclear violations along with water and electricity crises.

President Donald Trump entered the picture on Friday, writing on social media that if “Iran shoots and violently kills peaceful protesters,” Washington will “come to their rescue,” adding that the U.S. is “locked and loaded and ready to go.”

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has also voiced support for the protests, telling his Cabinet on Sunday that Jerusalem stands with Iranians seeking freedom amid the country’s widening unrest and that this may be a pivotal moment in their fight for change.

Iran’s top military official warned Wednesday that Tehran will not stand by while facing threats from foreign powers, after the United States and Israel publicly expressed support for anti-government protests.

“The Islamic Republic of Iran regards the mounting hostile rhetoric against the Iranian people as a threat and will not tolerate its continuation without a response,” Gen. Amir Hatami said, according to the semi-official Fars news agency.

Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei on Saturday addressed the mounting unrest in the Islamic Republic, saying, “Protesting is legitimate, but protesting is different from rioting.”

“We talk with protesters. The officials must talk with the protesters. But, there’s no point in talking with a rioter. Rioters must be put in their place,” the theocratic dictator wrote on X.

Solidarity demonstrations in support of the anti-regime protests in Iran have taken place globally in recent days, including in London, Paris and Washington.