Residents reported no new protests after a sweeping clampdown, as arrests mounted nationwide and hard-liners said protesters should be put to death.
More than 3,000 people have been killed in Iran’s nationwide protests, rights activists said on Jan. 16, as residents reported no sign of new demonstrations after a sweeping brutal suppression, while Iranian state media said authorities were pressing ahead with fresh arrests and hard-line officials escalated calls for executions of detained protesters.
The U.S.-based Human Rights Activists News Agency (HRANA) said it had verified 3,090 deaths by the end of the protests’ 20th day, including 2,885 protesters. HRANA said 165 members of government or security forces and 21 non-protesting civilians were also killed, and at least 19 children were among the dead.
Iran has not released casualty figures and denies widespread killings of peaceful protesters, blaming violence on what it describes as armed rioters and terrorist groups backed by foreign powers.
Residents in Tehran said the capital had been comparatively quiet for four days, with no sign of major protests on Jan. 15 or Jan. 16, after the most intense clashes in weeks of unrest that began on Dec. 28 over economic hardship that expanded into calls for the end of clerical rule.
The reported calm on the streets contrasted with mounting political and diplomatic pressure on Tehran over the scale of bloodshed, and with increasingly volatile rhetoric from elements of Iran’s religious establishment, including threats directed at U.S. President Donald Trump.
Trump, who has warned of “very strong action” if Iran begins executing demonstrators, struck a conciliatory note on Jan. 16 by publicly thanking Iran’s leaders for not carrying out mass hangings of detainees—signaling he may be backing away from his prior threats even as the White House maintains that executions and the killing of peaceful protesters are two of Washington’s red lines.
Trump Admin Warns Iran Against Attacking US Bases
Washington on Jan. 17 warned Tehran against targeting American bases, with the State Department’s Persian-language account on X saying that the United States is closely monitoring reports of possible plans. Quoting Trump, it said any attack on U.S. assets would be met with “very, very powerful force.”
The State Department said it had heard reports that Iran was preparing “options” to target U.S. bases, warning the Islamic Republic not to test Trump’s resolve and noting that the U.S. president has repeatedly said that “all options remain on the table.”
“If the Islamic Republic regime takes action to attack U.S. assets, the Islamic Republic will face ‘very, very powerful force,’” the post said, quoting Trump. “We have said this before and we say it again: do not play with President Trump.”
By Tom Ozimek
