Tehran [Iran], January 12: Unrest in Iran has killed more than 500 people, a rights group said on Sunday, as Tehran threatened to target U.S. military bases if President Donald Trump carries out his renewed threats to intervene on behalf of protesters.
With the Islamic Republic's clerical establishment facing the biggest demonstrations since 2022, Trump has repeatedly threatened to intervene if force is used on protesters.
According to its latest figures - from activists inside and outside Iran - U.S.-based rights group HRANA said it had verified the deaths of 490 protesters and 48 security personnel, with more than 10,600 people arrested in two weeks of unrest.
Iran has not given an official toll and Reuters was unable to independently verify the tolls.
Trump was to meet with senior advisers on Tuesday to discuss options for Iran, a U.S. official told Reuters on Sunday.
The Wall Street Journal had reported that options included military strikes, using secret cyber weapons, widening sanctions and providing online help to anti-government sources.
"The military is looking at it, and we're looking at some very strong options," Trump told reporters travelling on Air Force One on Sunday night.
Iranian Parliament Speaker Mohammad Baqer Qalibaf warned Washington against "a miscalculation."
"Let us be clear: in the case of an attack on Iran, the occupied territories (Israel) as well as all U.S. bases and ships will be our legitimate target," said Qalibaf, a former commander in Iran's elite Revolutionary Guards.
AUTHORITIES INTENSIFY CRACKDOWN
The protests began on December 28 in response to soaring prices, before turning against the clerical rulers who have governed since the 1979 Islamic Revolution.
Iranian authorities accused the U.S. and Israel of fomenting trouble and called for a nationwide rally on Monday to condemn "terrorist actions led by the United States and Israel," state media reported.
The flow of information from Iran has been hampered by an internet blackout since Thursday.
Footage posted on social media on Saturday from Tehran showed large crowds marching at night, clapping and chanting.
The crowd "has no end nor beginning," a man is heard saying.
Footage from the northeastern city of Mashhad showed smoke billowing into the night sky from fires in the street, masked protesters and a road strewn with debris, another video posted on Saturday showed. Explosions could be heard. Reuters verified the locations.
State TV showed dozens of body bags on the ground at the Tehran coroner's office, saying the dead were victims of events caused by "armed terrorists", as well as footage of loved ones gathered outside the Kahrizak Forensic Medical Centre in Tehran waiting to identify bodies.
U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said he was shocked by reports of violence by the Iranian authorities and urged maximum restraint.
"The rights to freedom of expression, association & peaceful assembly must be fully respected & protected," he said on X.
Authorities on Sunday declared three days of national mourning "in honor of martyrs killed in resistance against the United States and the Zionist regime," according to state media.
Source: Fijian Broadcasting Corporation
