Report: 5 million Iranians protested regime during two-day period

At least 5 million Iranians took to the streets to protest the regime during the crackdown, foreign intelligence agency estimates, with at least 1.5 million in Tehran on first night of internet blackout.

By World Israel News Staff

At least five million Iranians took to the streets to protest against the regime during a two-day period earlier this month, according to an estimate by a European intelligence agency, coinciding with a deadly crackdown and internet blackout.

On Friday, the London-based pro-opposition outlet Iran International published a report citing an unnamed European diplomat who shared an intelligence report with the site estimating that at least five million protesters joined anti-regime demonstrations between Thursday, January 8, and Friday, January 9.

The diplomat said that the number of demonstrators peaked on January 8, at the beginning of the internet blackout and ensuing crackdown by the government.

Turnout fell on Friday, he added, due to the widespread killing of protesters on Thursday, though a significant number of demonstrators still turned out.

The intelligence estimate put the number of protesters in Tehran alone on January 8 at no fewer than 1.5 million.

The source emphasized that the estimates are conservative, with accurate numbers for protests outside of Tehran hard to come by.

Estimates inside the capital are easier to form, as foreign governments with embassies in Tehran have been able to gather data on the size of protests there.

Regime forces launched a major crackdown on protesters starting on Thursday night, with estimates on the number of dead running as high as 12,000 to 20,000.

The Human Rights Activists News Agency, a Washington-based group with ties to networks of activists inside Iran, said Saturday night that it has been notified of nearly 7,700 individuals killed by pro-regime forces since the protest movement began, adding that it has confirmed 3,308 of those fatalities.