In Iran, citizens report deserted streets, heavy policing and vandalism after the return of communication with the outside world

Iran resumed its communication with the outside world this Tuesday (13), days after the government cut telephone and internet signals in a repression of the protests that have been dominating the country. And in their first reports after days of isolation, Iranians spoke to the Associated Press news agency about the current scenario. ✅ Follow the g1 international news channel on WhatsApp Around 2,000 dead, says agency The repression of protests taking place in Iran has already left around 2,000 people dead, a member of the Iranian government told Reuters news agency on Tuesday (13). The source interviewed by Reuters blamed the protesters, who he called “terrorists”, for the deaths of citizens and security agents during the protests. ➡️ The demonstrations, which began in December, focused on the country’s poor economic situation, but the violent repression led protesters to call for an end to the regime of the ayatollahs, who have ruled Iran since the 1979 Revolution. Also this Tuesday, the High Commissioner of the United Nations (UN) for Human Rights, Volker Türk, said he was “horrified” by what he called the Iranian security forces’ repression of peaceful protests. Officially, Iran had not confirmed the new balance until the last update of this report. On Monday (12), Iran’s Foreign Minister, Abbas Araqchi, declared that the country’s situation was “under complete control” following an increase in violence linked to protests over the weekend. The Iranian foreign minister added that US President Donald Trump’s threat of a new offensive against Tehran if the violent repression of protests continued, motivated “terrorists” to attack protesters and security forces, to justify this intervention. US must intervene in Iran Trump threatens to intervene militarily in Iran “We are going to hit them very hard where it hurts the most,” Trump said, in relation to Iran, last week. The American president had already said he would intervene previously. On January 2, he declared that the US was “ready to act” if people peacefully protesting were killed. On Saturday (10), Trump renewed the threats by saying that Iran is “seeking freedom” and that the Americans are “ready to help”. The US-based human rights group HRANA told news agencies Reuters and Associated Press that the death toll had risen to 538, including 490 protesters and 48 police officers. In addition, more than 10,670 people were arrested, according to the organization this Sunday (11). Other human rights NGOs monitoring the situation in Iran have also reported on deaths from the protests. The country is isolated from the rest of the world after Khamenei cut off the internet, so it is not known for sure how many people actually died, however, organizations have received reports that Iranian security forces fired at protesters. The Iranian government is not regularly releasing official figures on police action in the protests and accuses the US and Israel of infiltrating the protests and blaming them for the deaths that occurred in the movements. Iran’s police chief, Ahmad-Reza Radan, said on Sunday that security forces had “escalated the level of confrontation against protesters.” Iran’s Revolutionary Guards, a major military player in the country, said protecting national security is a non-negotiable point. The President of Iran, Masoud Pezeshkian, asked this Sunday that the Iranian population keep its distance from what he called “terrorists and rioters” and tried to seek a path of dialogue with the protesters. At the same time, Pezeshkian accused the United States and Israel of “sowing chaos and disorder” in the country.

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