Trending 
Iranian authorities carried out a “mass killing” while cracking down on the largest protests against the Islamic Republic in years, a rights group said on Sunday, as the country’s president warned that “rioters” must not be allowed to destabilise the country.
The Norway-based Iran Human Rights (IHR) said it had confirmed the deaths of at least 192 protesters but warned the toll could already be far higher.
“Unverified reports indicate that at least several hundred, and according to some sources, more than 2,000 people may have been killed,” the group said, denouncing “mass killing” and a “major international crime against the people of Iran”.
The protests, at first triggered by anger over the rising cost of living, have evolved into a broader movement against the Islamic system established after the 1979 revolution. Now in their second week, they represent one of the most serious challenges to the rule of Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei, 86.
Demonstrations have continued despite an internet shutdown lasting more than 60 hours, according to monitoring group Netblocks, with activists warning that the blackout has severely restricted information flows and may be masking a higher death toll.
Iranian authorities have drawn a distinction between what they describe as legitimate economic grievances and “rioters” they accuse of acting on behalf of foreign powers.
President Masoud Pezeshkian accused the United States and Israel of seeking to exploit the unrest, alleging they were “trying to escalate this unrest” and bringing “terrorists from abroad into the country”.
“The people (of Iran) should not allow rioters to disrupt society,” Pezeshkian said in an interview broadcast by state television. “The people should believe that we (the government) want to establish justice.”
State media have shown images of burning buildings, including a mosque, as well as funerals for security personnel, with authorities saying members of the security forces have been killed.
Judiciary chief Gholamhossein Mohseni Ejei said authorities would deal “decisively” with detained protesters, while national police chief Ahmad-Reza Radan reported “significant” arrests overnight.
IHR estimates that more than 2,600 people have been arrested since the protests began.
Exiled opposition figure Reza Pahlavi, the US-based son of Iran’s ousted shah, has called for renewed demonstrations and said he was ready to return to Iran to lead a political transition.
“I’m already planning on that,” he told Fox News, as chants of “long live the shah” have been reported at some protests.
Despite the communications blackout, videos circulating online and not verified by AFP appear to show families identifying bodies of protesters at a Tehran morgue.
The Centre for Human Rights in Iran said hospitals were overwhelmed, blood supplies were running low and that protesters had been deliberately shot in the eyes.
In Tehran, an AFP journalist described a city largely paralysed, with shops closing early as security forces deploy in force. The price of meat has nearly doubled since the protests began.
Solidarity rallies were held in several countries, including France, Britain and Austria, with thousands gathering in London.
“We don’t know anything about our family members now, in Iran,” said Fahimeh Moradi, 52, speaking to AFP in Britain. “My son is there, and I don’t know if he’s alive or not.”
US President Donald Trump has voiced support for the protesters and warned of military action “if they start killing people”. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said he hoped Iran would soon be freed from what he called the “yoke of tyranny”.
Iran’s parliament speaker, Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf, warned that any US military action would be met with retaliation.
“In the event of a military attack by the United States, both the occupied territory and centres of the US military and shipping will be our legitimate targets,” Ghalibaf said on state television.
