IRAN ACKNOWLEDGES 2,000 DEATHS

Trump urges Iranians to keep protesting and says help is on the way

- BY STEPHEN N.R.

This frame grab from videos circulating on social media purportedly shows images from a morgue with dozens of bodies and mourners after a crackdown on the outskirts of Tehran.

(AP)

Iranian authorities have, for the first time, acknowledged a sharply higher death toll from the nationwide protests gripping the country, with an Iranian official telling Reuters that about 2,000 people, including security personnel, have been killed during an intense crackdown over the past two weeks.

The official, who spoke on condition of anonymity, blamed what he described as “terrorists” for the deaths of both protesters and members of the security forces, but did not provide a breakdown of casualties.

The unrest, triggered by deepening economic hardship, has posed the most serious internal challenge to Iran’s clerical leadership in at least three years, unfolding against the backdrop of rising international pressure following Israeli and US strikes last year.