Death toll in Iran protests over 3000: rights group

More than 3000 people have died in Iran's nationwide protests, rights activists say, while a "very slight rise" in internet activity was reported in the country ?after an eight-day blackout.

The US-based HRANA group said it had verified 3090 deaths, including 2885 protesters, after residents said the crackdown appeared to have broadly quelled protests for now and state media reported more arrests.

The Iranian government has blamed much of the violence ?on people it says are armed rioters posing as protesters, labelling them "terrorists" and claiming that Israel and the US were behind organising them and responsible for many of the deaths of demonstrators and security forces.

The capital Tehran has been comparatively quiet for four days, said several residents reached ?by Reuters.

Drones were flying over the city, but there were no signs of major protests on Thursday or Friday, said the residents, who asked not to be identified for their safety.

The protests erupted on December 28 over economic hardship and swelled into widespread demonstrations calling for the end of clerical rule in the Islamic Republic, culminating in mass violence late last week.

According to opposition groups and an Iranian official, more than 2000 people were killed in the worst domestic unrest since Iran's 1979 Islamic Revolution.

"Metrics show a very slight rise in internet connectivity in #Iran this morning" after 200 hours of shutdown, the internet monitoring group NetBlocks posted on X.

Connectivity remained about two per cent of ordinary levels, it said.

Media outlets reported that internet service had been ?restored for some users, along with text messaging.

A few Iranians overseas said on social media they had also been able to message users in Iran early on Saturday.

US President Donald Trump, who had threatened "very strong action" if Iran executed protesters, said Tehran's leaders had called off mass hangings.

"I greatly respect the fact that all scheduled hangings, which were to take place yesterday (Over 800 of them), have been cancelled by the leadership of Iran. Thank you!" he posted on social media.

Iran had not announced plans for such executions nor said it had cancelled them.

Iranian media affiliated with the government reported that several "ringleaders" of the unrest, including a woman named Nazanin Baradaran, had been taken into custody following what they described ?as "complex intelligence operations".

The reports claimed that Baradaran, operating under the pseudonym Raha Parham on behalf of Reza Pahlavi - the exiled son of Iran's last ?shah - had played a leading role in organising the unrest.

Pahlavi, a longtime opposition figure, has positioned himself as a potential leader in the event of regime collapse.

He is widely reported to receive support from Israel.

He has said he would seek to re-establish ?diplomatic ties between Iran and Israel if he were to assume a leadership role in the country.

In 2023 Pahlavi visited Israel, a close ally of Iran in his father's day and an implacable foe of the Islamic Republic now, and ?met Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and other officials.

Israeli officials have expressed support for Pahlavi.

In a rare public disclosure in December, Israeli Heritage Minister Amichai Eliyahu said in an interview that Israel had operatives "on the ground" in Iran and that some of "our people are operating there right now", referring to the protests.

He described these assets as aimed at weakening Iran's capabilities, though he denied they were directly working to topple the regime.

The remarks were widely circulated and ?picked ?up by Iranian state media - and many ordinary Iranians - as evidence of Israeli involvement inside Iran during the protests.