ERBIL, Kurdistan Region of Iraq – The death toll from weeks-long nationwide protests in Iran has neared 2,700, a US-based rights monitor said on Friday, with over 19,000 others held across numerous detention facilities in the country. 

Iran has faced three weeks of nationwide protests, which began late last year at Tehran’s Grand Bazaar, where business owners and shopkeepers launched strikes and demonstrations over the falling value of the Iranian rial against the US dollar. 

The unrest later spread to other provinces, with chants increasingly targeting the state, prompting a harsh crackdown by authorities. 

“The number of confirmed deaths has reached at least 2,677, with 1,693 additional cases still under investigation,” the US-based Human Rights Activists News Agency (HRANA) said. 

The threat of military action by the United States against Iran over protester deaths – a threat previously leveled by US President Donald Trump – appears to have subsided. A Saudi official told AFP that Gulf allies have convinced the US president to give Tehran a “chance” before taking action. 

The protester death toll remains unverified, however, as Iranian authorities increasingly crack down on the internet and impose blackouts to prevent the spread of information.

Iran Human Rights (IHR), a Norway-based rights group, reported that at least 3,428 protesters have been killed by security forces since the unrest erupted. 

⚠️ Update: At 180 hours, the total internet blackout in #Iran now exceeds the core duration of the 2019 shutdown, and there is still no partial or regional restoration.

in 2019, it was only after connectivity was restored that the scale of the brutal crackdown became known. pic.twitter.com/jTBcaswzbS

— NetBlocks (@netblocks) January 16, 2026

Amnesty International on Thursday reported an increasing “militarized environment” in Iran’s cities as a response to the protests. 

“Iran’s security forces have imposed through heavily armed patrols and checkpoints across the country in recent days to crush the nationwide popular uprising in Iran,” it said. “The message is clear: anyone who dares to gather or even step outside will be met with lethal force.”

On Thursday, Washington announced new sanctions targeting the “architects” of the Iranian regime’s crackdown on protesters, a first concrete measure since the demonstrations began. Ali Larijani, secretary of Iran’s Supreme National Security Council (SNSC), was among the targeted individuals. 

White House spokesperson Karoline Leavitt said that Trump understands that 800 scheduled executions for Wednesday were halted, and that Washington is closely monitoring the situation and “all options remain on the table.” 

Iran’s judiciary chief has ordered authorities to “expedite” cases of detained protesters, whom officials have described as “rioters” and “foreign agents,” with rights monitors warning that some could face execution.

The Islamic republic has a long history of labeling protesters as rioters and alleging ties to the US and Israel, responding with heavy crackdowns, arrests, and charges that carry the death penalty.