{"id":8790,"date":"2026-01-23T00:51:19","date_gmt":"2026-01-23T08:51:19","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/iranreport.org\/?p=8790"},"modified":"2026-01-23T00:54:37","modified_gmt":"2026-01-23T08:54:37","slug":"toll-in-irans-protest-crackdown-reaches-at-least-5002-dead-as-trump-says-us-armada-approaching","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/iranreport.org\/?p=8790","title":{"rendered":"Toll in Iran\u2019s protest crackdown reaches at least 5,002 dead as Trump says US \u2018armada\u2019 approaching"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<div>\n<iframe id=\"ytplayer\" type=\"text\/html\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/eZ_E5cI8svE?si=U7W_WVihBGx_JT-q&#038;cc_lang_pref=fa&#038;cc_load_policy=1&#038;rel=0\" frameborder=\"0\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe>\n\n    <button type=\"button\" onclick=\"toggleImage()\" id=\"btnID\" style=\"margin-top: 10px; margin-bottom: 10px;\">\n        \u0627\u0646\u062f\u0627\u0632\u0647 \u0632\u06cc\u0631\u0646\u0648\u06cc\u0633 \u0631\u0627 \u0627\u0641\u0632\u0627\u06cc\u0634 \u062f\u0647\u06cc\u062f (\u0641\u0642\u0637 \u0631\u0627\u06cc\u0627\u0646\u0647)\n    <\/button>\n    <img decoding=\"async\" id=\"image\" src=\"\" \/>\n<\/div>\n\n<script>\n    function toggleImage() {\n        const image = document.getElementById(\"image\");\n        const imageUrl = \"https:\/\/iranreport.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/Font-Size.jpg\";\n\n        if (image.src === imageUrl || image.src.endsWith(\"Font-Size.jpg\")) {\n            image.src = \"\";\n        } else {\n            image.src = imageUrl;\n        }\n    }\n<\/script>\n\n\n\n<p>DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP) \u2014 The toll in Iran\u2019s bloody crackdown on nationwide protests has reached at least 5,002 people killed, activists said Friday, warning many more were feared dead as the&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/apnews.com\/article\/iran-protests-crackdown-internet-business-costs-a0bd2df1d13355dcc28f46e5b5b3c893\">most comprehensive internet blackout<\/a>&nbsp;in the country\u2019s history crossed the two-week mark.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The challenge in getting information out of Iran persists because of authorities cutting off access to&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/apnews.com\/article\/iran-protests-starlink-spacex-musk-satellite-9c153cf164959ddd99e4d0f0d4ebd544\">the internet on Jan. 8<\/a>, even as tensions rise between the United States and Iran as an American aircraft carrier group moves closer to the Middle East \u2014 a force U.S. President Donald Trump likened to an \u201carmada\u201d in comments to journalists late Thursday.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Analysts say a military buildup could give Trump the option to carry out strikes, though so far he\u2019s avoided that despite repeated warnings to Tehran.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cWhile President Trump now appears to have backtracked, likely under pressure from regional leaders and cognizant that airstrikes alone would be insufficient to implode the regime, military assets continue to be moved into the region, indicating kinetic action may still happen,\u201d a New York-based think tank called the Soufan Center said in an analysis Friday.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Death toll rises<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>The U.S.-based Human Rights Activists News Agency&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/apnews.com\/article\/iran-protests-death-toll-ec00ffa50f818d4a66aec5942aec629b\">offered the death toll<\/a>, saying 4,716 were demonstrators, 203 were government-affiliated, 43 were children and 40 were civilians not taking part in the protests. It added that more than 26,800 people had been detained in a widening arrest campaign by authorities.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The group\u2019s figures have been accurate in previous unrest in Iran and rely on a network of activists in Iran to verify deaths. That death toll exceeds that of any other round of protest or unrest in Iran in decades, and recalls the chaos surrounding Iran\u2019s 1979 Islamic Revolution.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/apnews.com\/article\/iran-protests-araghchi-trump-threat-crackdown-299375ebfd004dd6098c77a6bb8079a5\">Iran\u2019s government<\/a>&nbsp;offered its first death toll Wednesday, saying 3,117 people were killed. It added that 2,427 of the dead in the demonstrations that began Dec. 28 were civilians and security forces, with the rest being \u201cterrorists.\u201d In the past, Iran\u2019s theocracy has undercounted or not reported fatalities from unrest.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The Associated Press has been unable to independently assess the death toll, in part because of authorities cutting access to the internet and blocking international calls into the country. Iran also reportedly has limited journalists\u2019 ability locally to report on the aftermath, instead repeatedly airing claims on state television that refer to demonstrators as \u201crioters\u201d motivated by the United States and Israel, without offering evidence to support the allegation.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The new toll comes as tensions remain high over Trump laying down two red lines over the protests \u2014 the killing of peaceful demonstrators and Tehran conducting mass executions. Iran\u2019s attorney general and others have called some of those being held \u201cmohareb\u201d \u2014 or&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/apnews.com\/article\/iran-protests-1979-revolution-analysis-c06cfb0df138c78f00641324bf74ffe8\">\u201cenemies of God.\u201d<\/a>&nbsp;That charge carries the death penalty. It had been used along with others to carry out mass executions in 1988 that reportedly killed at least 5,000 people.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">US warships on the move<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>The American military meanwhile has moved more military assets toward the Mideast, including the aircraft carrier USS Abraham Lincoln and associated warships traveling with it from the South China Sea.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>A U.S. Navy official, who spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss military movements, said Thursday that the Lincoln strike group is in the Indian Ocean.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Trump said Thursday aboard Air Force One that the U.S. is moving the ships toward Iran \u201cjust in case\u201d he wants to take action.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cWe have a massive fleet heading in that direction and maybe we won\u2019t have to use it,\u201d Trump said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Trump also mentioned the multiple rounds of talks that American officials had with Iran over its nuclear program prior to Israel launching&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/apnews.com\/article\/israel-attack-iran-strike-nuclear-us-news-5adea3ffa51264e0c7c803d8acfde338\">a 12-day war<\/a>&nbsp;against the Islamic Republic in June, which saw U.S. warplanes bomb Iranian nuclear sites. He threatened Iran with military action that would make earlier U.S. strikes against its uranium enrichment sites \u201clook like peanuts.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cThey should have made a deal before we hit them,\u201d Trump said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The U.K. Defense Ministry separately said that its joint Eurofighter Typhoon fighter jet squadron with Qatar, 12 Squadron, \u201cdeployed to the (Persian) Gulf for defensive purposes noting regional tensions.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Iran shows off drones in Israel threat<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>Iran commemorated \u201cthe Day of the Guardian\u201d on Friday, an annual event for its paramilitary Revolutionary Guard, which was key in putting down the nationwide protests.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>To mark the day, an Iranian state television channel aired a typically religious talk show that instead saw its cleric and prayer singers look at Iranian military drones. They fired up the engines of several of the Shahid drones, one of which has been used extensively&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/apnews.com\/article\/russia-ukraine-kyiv-army-182ef49a89cc5ccbf442d38423b6117f\">by Russia in its war on Ukraine<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>A man identified as a member of the security forces, who wore a surgical mask and sunglasses during the telecast to hide his identity, also made a threat in mangled Hebrew toward Israel, trying to say: \u201cWe are closer to you than you think.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>\u0627\u0646\u062f\u0627\u0632\u0647 \u0632\u06cc\u0631\u0646\u0648\u06cc\u0633 \u0631\u0627 \u0627\u0641\u0632\u0627\u06cc\u0634 \u062f\u0647\u06cc\u062f (\u0641\u0642\u0637 \u0631\u0627\u06cc\u0627\u0646\u0647) DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP) \u2014 The toll in Iran\u2019s bloody crackdown on nationwide protests has reached at least 5,002 people killed, activists<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":8791,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_price":"","_stock":"","_tribe_ticket_header":"","_tribe_default_ticket_provider":"","_tribe_ticket_capacity":"0","_ticket_start_date":"","_ticket_end_date":"","_tribe_ticket_show_description":"","_tribe_ticket_show_not_going":false,"_tribe_ticket_use_global_stock":"","_tribe_ticket_global_stock_level":"","_global_stock_mode":"","_global_stock_cap":"","_tribe_rsvp_for_event":"","_tribe_ticket_going_count":"","_tribe_ticket_not_going_count":"","_tribe_tickets_list":"[]","_tribe_ticket_has_attendee_info_fields":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[37,33,32],"tags":[20],"class_list":["post-8790","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-featured","category-iran-domestic","category-usa-intl","tag-featured"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/iranreport.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8790","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/iranreport.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/iranreport.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/iranreport.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/iranreport.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=8790"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/iranreport.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8790\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":8792,"href":"https:\/\/iranreport.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8790\/revisions\/8792"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/iranreport.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/8791"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/iranreport.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=8790"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/iranreport.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=8790"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/iranreport.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=8790"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}