Nearly 2,000 people killed in Iran protests - Reuters

Some 2,000 people have been killed in protests in Iran that have been going on across the country for more than two weeks, an unnamed Iranian official admitted to Reuters. The dead include both protesters and members of Iran's security forces. This is the first time Iranian authorities have recognized such a large-scale death toll from protests, the agency points out. Iran International TV channel , without specifying any sources, reports about the deaths of at least 12 thousand people as a result of the protests.

The deaths of protesters and security forces were the responsibility of "terrorists," the Reuters interlocutor said. This is how Iranian government officials refer to the demonstrators. The Iranian official did not give any other details about the dead. Earlier Iranian state media reported about the deaths of dozens of security forces during the protests, they did not report casualties among the protesters.

Protests in Iran have been going on since December 28 last year. They began against the background of the collapse of the national currency and grew into the largest-scale opposition to the government of Ayatollah Ali Khamenei in Iran and in general - the history of the Islamic Republic since its establishment after the 1979 revolution, Bloomberg wrote. U.S. President Donald Trump has previously expressed support for the protesters and said that he was considering various options, including military, to pressure Tehran to help the participants of anti-government actions. On January 12, amid the protests, Trump announced that the US would impose 25 percent duties on goods from countries "doing business" with Iran. After that, on January 13, Brent crude oil prices reached a two-month high.

This article was AI-translated and verified by a human editor