LONDON – More than 2,500 people have been killed during nationwide protests in Iran over the past 17 days, activists said Wednesday, as U.S. President Donald Trump voiced support for protesters and hinted at possible U.S. intervention against the government in Tehran.
The Human Rights Activists News Agency (HRANA) said it had verified a total of 2,571 deaths – and is reviewing reports of another 779 deaths – since the protests began on December 28.
The confirmed deaths include 2,403 adult protesters, 12 protesters under the age of 18, 147 government-affiliated personnel and nine non-protesting civilians, HRANA said.
Another 1,134 protesters were seriously injured, HRANA said, and at least 18,137 people were arrested.
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 any figures for civilian deaths related to the ongoing protests.
This video taken on January 14, 2026 from UGC footage posted on social media on January 13, 2026 shows dozens of bodies lying on the ground at the Tehran Province Forensic Diagnostic and Laboratory Center in Kahrizak, Iran.
-/UGC/AFP via Getty Images
As casualties mounted, Trump wrote on social media Tuesday: “Iranian Patriots, KEEP PROTESTING – TAKE DOWN YOUR INSTITUTIONS!!! Save the names of the murderers and abusers. You will pay a high price.”
“I have canceled all meetings with Iranian officials until the senseless killing of protesters STOP. HELP IS ON THE WAY,” Trump added.
When pressed by a reporter later during a visit to Michigan on Tuesday about what he meant by help on the way, Trump responded: “You’ll have to figure it out, I’m sorry.”
Trump said he thought it was “a good idea” for Americans to evacuate from Iran. The State Department said Tuesday that all U.S. citizens should leave the country.
Trump said he has not been given an exact number of how many people have died so far in the protests, but said “one is a lot.”
“I think it’s a lot. It’s too many, whatever it is,” he said.
US President Donald Trump, wearing a “Happy Trump” pin, speaks during a meeting with oil industry executives at the White House in Washington, DC, the United States, on January 9, 2026.
Kevin Lamarque/Reuters
Later on Tuesday, he told reporters that he will soon receive “precise figures” on how many protesters have been killed in Iran and that “we will act accordingly.”
Trump on Monday announced a 25% tariff on any country that does business with Iran. The president and White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt suggested other options are still being discussed.
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.
Members of Trump’s national security team, including Secretary of State Marco Rubio, Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth and CIA Director John Ratcliffe, met Tuesday morning to discuss Iran, according to Leavitt. Trump did not attend the meeting, nor was he scheduled to attend, he said.
Vice President JD Vance also led an Iran strategy meeting Tuesday afternoon with the National Security Council’s main committee, a source with direct knowledge of the meeting confirmed to ABC News.
Iranian officials have threatened retaliatory strikes against American and Israeli targets in the event of any outside intervention.
This frame grab from videos taken between January 9 and 11, 2026 and circulating on social media allegedly shows images of a morgue with dozens of corpses and mourners after the crackdown on the outskirts of Iran’s capital, in Kahrizak, Tehran province. (UGC via AP)
The Associated Press
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 spread, they took on a more explicitly anti-government tone.
Government forces have responded with a major security offensive. There has also been a sustained nationwide internet outage across the country. Online monitoring group NetBlocks said Wednesday that the outage had exceeded 132 hours.
Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei and senior Iranian officials have said they are willing to address protesters’ economic grievances, although they have framed the unrest as driven by “rioters” and “terrorists” sponsored by foreign nations (including the United States and Israel) and supported by foreign infiltrators.
The head of Iran’s judiciary, Gholamhossein Mohseni-Ejei, suggested on Wednesday that trials and executions would be accelerated for those arrested in the nationwide protests.
“If we want to do a job, we have to do it now. If we want to do something, we have to do it quickly,” Mohseni-Ejei he said in a video shared online by Iranian state television, according to The Associated Press.
“If it’s delayed, two or three months later, it doesn’t have the same effect,” Mohseni-Ejei said.
On Wednesday, state media quoted President Masoud Pezeshkian as saying in a meeting with Economy Ministry officials that if economic conditions improved, “we wouldn’t be witnessing their protests in the streets.”
In this photo obtained by The Associated Press, Iranians attend an anti-government protest in Tehran, Iran, on Friday, January 9, 2026. (UGC via AP)
The Associated Press
Dissident figures abroad have urged Iranians to press protests and overthrow the government in Tehran.
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.
On Tuesday, Pahlavi called on members of the Iranian military to join the protests. “You are the national army of Iran, not the army of the Islamic Republic,” he wrote in X.
“They have a duty to protect the lives of their compatriots,” Pahlavi added. “You don’t have much time. Join them as soon as possible.”
ABC News’ Morgan Winsor contributed to this report.
