Official Iranian media reported on Wednesday that since the start of the protests, which have been ongoing in the country since December, 3,117 people have been killed, according to LETA citing AFP.
State television cited a statement from the Foundation of Veterans and Martyrs of Iran, which said that 2,427 of the deceased are considered "martyrs" according to Islam, and referred to them as "innocent" victims. Among these "martyrs" are also security forces personnel.
The statement also mentioned that "many of the martyrs were innocent bystanders" shot during the protests. It also claimed that "some were protesters who were shot by organized terrorist elements in the crowd."
The clerical authorities of Iran condemned the wave of protests, calling it a "terrorist" incident and characterizing the events as U.S.-instigated violent "riots."
Meanwhile, human rights organizations state that thousands of protesters demanding change have been killed after security forces opened fire on them.
The Norway-based non-governmental organization Iran Human Rights (IHR) has verified reports of 3,428 protesters killed by security forces. However, IHR warns that this may only be a small fraction of all cases, as estimates suggest that the number of killed protesters could range from 5,000 to 20,000 people.
The American news agency for human rights activists (HRANA) reported on Tuesday that since the protests began in December, 4,519 deaths have been confirmed, with over 9,000 cases still under verification. Among the dead are 4,251 demonstrators and 197 security personnel.
All organizations tracking the death toll acknowledge that accurately determining the scale of losses is extremely difficult due to the internet shutdown, which has lasted for more than 300 hours.
