LONDON – The death toll in major anti-government protests in Iran reached 646 as of Monday, according to data released by the US-based Human Rights Activists News Agency (HRANA) over 16 days of unrest.
At least 10,721 people have been arrested, HRANA said, in protests that have been recorded in 606 places in 187 cities in all 31 Iranian provinces. Among the dead were 505 protesters and nine children, the group reported.
HRANA data is based on the work of activists inside and outside the country. ABC News cannot independently verify these numbers. The Iranian government has not provided death tolls during the ongoing protests.
Meanwhile, state-aligned Iranian media have reported that more than 100 members of the security forces have died in the unrest. HRANA said 133 military and security personnel were among those killed in the wave of protests to date, along with a prosecutor.
This video taken on January 13, 2026 from UGC footage posted on social media on January 10, 2026 shows clashes in Mashhad, northeastern Iran.
-/UGC/AFP via Getty Images
US President Donald Trump on Monday announced a 25% tariff on any country doing business with Iran, after repeatedly warning Tehran against using force to suppress ongoing protests.
“Effective immediately, any country doing business with the Islamic Republic of Iran will pay a 25% tariff on any and all business conducted with the United States of America,” Trump said in a social media post on Monday. “This Order is final and conclusive.”
Responding to the announcement, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Mao Ning said the position of Beijing, which is a key trading partner for Tehran, “is very clear: there are no winners in a tariff war. China will firmly safeguard its legitimate rights and interests.”
China “supports Iran in maintaining national stability,” he added. “We have always opposed interference in the internal affairs of other countries and the use or threat of force in international relations.”
Trump’s national security team is expected to meet at the White House on Tuesday to discuss his options for intervention in the Islamic Republic.
President Donald Trump waves after arriving on Air Force One from Florida, Sunday, Jan. 11, 2026, at Joint Base Andrews, Maryland (AP Photo/Julia Demaree Nikhinson)
The Associated Press
A U.S. official told ABC News that among the options being considered are new sanctions against key regime figures or against Iran’s energy or banking sectors.
White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt suggested to reporters Monday that military options remain open for Trump.
The president, he said, “always keeps all of his options on the table and airstrikes would be one of the many, many options on the table for the commander in chief. Diplomacy is always the first option for the president.”
Citing the “escalation” of protests and increased security measures, the State Department also urged Americans to leave Iran.
“US citizens should expect continued internet outages, plan for alternative means of communication, and, if safe to do so, consider leaving Iran by land for Armenia or Türkiye,” a new security alert posted on the US “virtual” website in Tehran stated on Monday.
Protests have spread across the country since late December. The first marches took place in central Tehran, with participants demonstrating against rising inflation and the falling value of the national currency, the rial.
As the protests have spread, some have taken on a more explicitly anti-government tone.
FILE – Protesters march on a bridge in Tehran, Iran, on Dec. 29, 2025. (Fars News Agency via AP, File)
The Associated Press
Tehran’s theocratic government, led by Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, took steps to control the protests, with security forces reportedly using tear gas and live ammunition to disperse the gatherings.
For several days there has been a sustained national Internet outage across the country. Online monitoring group NetBlocks said on Tuesday that the “nationwide internet blackout” had lasted 108 hours.
The United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights, Volker Turk, said in a statement on Tuesday that hundreds of people had been killed and thousands arrested.
Turkish He said he was “horrified by the growing violence against protesters” and urged Iranian authorities to immediately stop all forms of violence and repression, and restore full access to the Internet and telecommunications.
Khamenei and senior Iranian officials have said they are willing to address protesters’ economic grievances, although they have framed the unrest as driven by “troublemakers” and “terrorists” sponsored by foreign nations (mainly including the United States and Israel) and supported by foreign infiltrators.
On Monday, Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi described the wave of protests as a “terrorist war” while speaking to foreign diplomats in Tehran.
Security forces monitor a pro-government demonstration, on January 12, 2026, in Tehran, Iran.
Majid Saeedi/Getty Images
Also on Monday, state television broadcast images of pro-government demonstrations organized in other major cities.
Footage showed crowds waving Iranian flags in Tehran’s Revolution Square. State television described the Tehran demonstration as an “Iranian uprising against American Zionist terrorism.”
Meanwhile, dissident figures abroad have urged Iranians to take to the streets and overthrow the government.
Iran’s exiled Crown Prince Reza Pahlavi, who from his base in the United States has become a prominent critic of the Iranian government, on Monday appealed to Trump to act in support of the protesters.
“I have called people to the streets to fight for their freedom and overwhelm security forces with their sheer numbers,” Pahlavi wrote on X. “Last night they did that. Their threat to this criminal regime has also kept the regime’s thugs at bay. But time is of the essence.”
“Please be prepared to intervene to help the people of Iran,” Pahlavi added.
ABC News’ Somayeh Malekian, Morgan Winsor, Meredith Deliso, Anne Flaherty, Mariam Khan, Othón Leyva, Britt Clennett and José Simonetti docontributed to this report.
