Rights group says at least 648 killed in Iran protests as government stages mass rallies, with US warning military options remain on the table.
PARIS: At least 648 people have been killed in a violent crackdown on protests in Iran, a rights group said on Monday.
The Norway-based NGO Iran Human Rights (IHR) confirmed the deaths, including nine minors, and reported thousands more injuries and an estimated 10,000 arrests.
It warned the true death toll was likely far higher, with some estimates exceeding 6,000.
The report came as Iranian authorities staged mass nationwide rallies in a bid to regain control of the streets.
Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei hailed the turnout as proof that protests, which the government blames on foreign interference, had been defeated.
Rights groups warn a four-day internet blackout is masking a deadly crackdown.
“The international community has a duty to protect civilian protesters against mass killing by the Islamic republic,” said IHR director Mahmood Amiry-Moghaddam.
US President Donald Trump has repeatedly threatened military intervention if Tehran kills protesters.
White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt said on Monday that military options, including air strikes, remained “on the table”, but diplomacy was the first option.
More than two weeks of demonstrations, initially sparked by economic grievances, pose a major challenge to Iran’s theocratic system.
Khamenei said the pro-government rallies were a “warning” to the United States.
State TV showed crowds in Tehran brandishing flags and praying for victims of what the government calls “riots”.
Parliament speaker Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf told a rally Iran was fighting a “four-front war” including an economic war and a “war against terrorists”, a reference to the protests.
He vowed the Iranian military would teach Trump “an unforgettable lesson” if Iran were attacked.
Trump claimed on Sunday that Iran’s leadership had called him seeking negotiations.
Leavitt noted public messages from Iranian authorities differed from private communications received by the administration.
Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi told foreign ambassadors Iran was “not seeking war but is fully prepared for war”, while calling for “fair” negotiations.
A channel of communication remains open between Araghchi and Trump’s Middle East envoy Steve Witkoff, a spokesman said.
Reza Pahlavi, the US-based son of Iran’s ousted shah, told CBS the government was trying to trick the world into thinking it was ready to negotiate.
He said Trump’s “red line” had been “definitely surpassed by this regime”.
State media broadcast images of calm returning to Tehran, with the governor insisting protest numbers were decreasing.
It has reported dozens of security force members killed, with their funerals becoming pro-government rallies.
The European Union is “looking into” imposing additional sanctions on Iran over the repression.
The European Parliament has banned all Iranian diplomats and representatives from its premises.
Iran summoned diplomats from France, Germany, Italy, and the UK, demanding they withdraw statements supporting protesters.
French President Emmanuel Macron condemned “the state violence that indiscriminately targets Iranian women and men who courageously demand respect for their rights”.
Non-essential French embassy staff left Iran on Sunday and Monday.
Russia slammed attempts by “foreign powers” to interfere in Iran, in its first reaction to the protests.
