12,000 Iranian protesters killed, anti-regime outlet claims

More than 500 slain protesters identified and nearly 600 more names being reviewed by dissident activists. Reports indicate that as many 12,000 demonstrators may have been killed by regime forces during internet blackout.

By David Rosenberg, World Israel News

A group of Iranian dissidents tracking the number of identified protesters slain by pro-regime forces during the ongoing crackdown against the popular unrest roiling the country confirmed Monday that 505 demonstrators, including nine children, have been killed thus far.

The Human Rights Activists News Agency (HRANA), the media wing of the Washington, D.C.-based Human Rights Activists in Iran group, which maintains a network of activists inside the Islamic Republic, added that it is currently reviewing the names of another 579 people reportedly killed in the protests.

In addition to the 505 slain protesters whose identities have been confirmed, HRANA said that 133 regime security personnel have also been killed.

However, a London-based anti-regime outlet, Iran International, estimates that the total death toll is significantly higher.

While the dissident outlet previously reported that at least 2,000 protesters had been killed early on in the internet blackout, which began on Thursday, on Tuesday that estimate was raised to 12,000.

“In the largest massacre in Iran’s modern history, at least 12,000 people have been murdered, mainly on two consecutive nights, Thursday and Friday, January 8 and 9,” Iran International‘s editorial board wrote in a statement.

The editorial board claimed that while the initial estimate of at least 2,000 fatalities was based on “scattered” preliminary reports, Iran International has since carried out a comprehensive analysis of information from various sources.

The information cited in the report includes unnamed sources within the Iranian government, including the Supreme National Security Council and the Office of the President.

In addition, multiple sources from Iran’s paramilitary Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) were said to have provided information for the report.

Iran International emphasized that the killings were organized and systematic, not part of “sporadic clashes,” adding that it appears that the IRGC was responsible for most of the attacks on protesters, with the IRGC’s volunteer Basij militia playing a leading role.

The death toll estimate also relied on reports from medical centers across Iran and the testimony of eyewitnesses, the outlet said.