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Iran’s Mass Protests Subside After Deadly Crackdown

Authorities now describe major cities as calm following days of lethal repression.

Overview

  • Residents and wire services reported quiet streets in Tehran on Thursday and Friday as the national police chief said demonstrations had stopped, with only sporadic unrest noted in the northwest.
  • Human Rights Activists (HRANA) cited 3,090 confirmed deaths, more than 22,000 arrests, and thousands more cases under review, figures that cannot be independently verified inside Iran.
  • Internet access has begun to return in parts of the country including Tehran, even as digital-rights activists told the Guardian that officials are pursuing a plan to make global connectivity a government-controlled privilege at least into March.
  • Witness accounts gathered by international media describe the peak crackdown on Jan. 8–9, when a blackout coincided with Basij and IRGC units firing on crowds from rooftops, with shots aimed at heads and torsos.
  • President Donald Trump claimed Iran canceled 800 executions of protesters, a statement unconfirmed by Iranian authorities, while Ayatollah Ali Khamenei publicly blamed Trump for deaths and damage.