Human rights organization: Riots in Iran have claimed more than 500 lives

Riots in Iran have claimed more than 500 lives, a human rights organization said today, while Tehran threatened to target US military bases if US President Donald Trump carries out threats to intervene in favor of protesters, Reuters reports.

As the Islamic Republic's religious establishment faces its biggest protests since 2022, Trump has repeatedly threatened to intervene if force is used against protesters.

According to the latest data from its database, based on information from activists in Iran and abroad, the American human rights organization "HRANA" announced that it has confirmed the deaths of 490 protesters and 48 members of the security forces, while more than 10.600 people have been arrested.

Reuters was unable to independently verify this information.

Iranian Parliament Speaker Mohammad Baker Ghalibaf warned the US Congress today about what he called a "miscalculation".

"Let's be clear: in the event of an attack on Iran, the occupied territories (of Israel), as well as all American bases and ships, will be our legitimate targets," said Ghalibaf, a former commander of Iran's elite Revolutionary Guard.

Authorities intensify repression

The protests began on December 28th in response to soaring prices, before turning into an open rebellion against the religious rulers who have been in power since the 1979 Islamic Revolution.

Authorities accuse the US and Israel of fomenting unrest. Iranian police chief Ahmad-Reza Radan said security forces had stepped up efforts to crack down on "rioters."

The flow of information from Iran has been further hampered by an internet outage that has been ongoing since Thursday.

Footage posted on social media on Saturday from Tehran showed large crowds of people marching through the streets at night, applauding and chanting slogans.

"This mass has no beginning or end," a man's voice can be heard in the recording.

Footage from the northeastern city of Mashhad shows smoke rising into the night sky from fires in the streets, masked protesters and roadways covered in rubble, while another video, also released on Saturday, shows explosions.

Reuters claims to have confirmed the locations of the footage.

State television broadcast footage today of dozens of body bags in the courtyard of Tehran's Institute of Forensic Medicine, saying the victims were killed in an incident caused by "armed terrorists."

Three Israeli sources, who attended security consultations over the weekend, said Israel had raised its alert level due to the possibility of American intervention.

An Israeli military official said the protests were an internal Iranian matter, but that the Israeli military was monitoring developments and was prepared to respond "strongly, if necessary." An Israeli government spokesman declined to comment.

Israel and Iran fought a 12-day war in June last year, in which the US briefly intervened by attacking key nuclear facilities. Iran responded by firing missiles at Israel and a US air base in Qatar.

Iran condemns "rioters and terrorists"

Although Iranian authorities have previously managed to overcome protests, the latest unrest comes as Tehran is still recovering from last year's war and at a time when Iran's regional position has been weakened by blows dealt to allies, such as Lebanon's Hezbollah, following the Hamas-led attack on Israel on October 7, 2023.

The unrest in Iran comes as Trump is showing US strength on the world stage, after ousting Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro and raising the possibility of buying Greenland or seizing it by military force.

Iranian President Masoud Pezizian said in a television interview that Israel and the US were behind the country's destabilization and that Iran's enemies had brought in "terrorists... who burn mosques... attack banks and public property."

"Families, please: do not allow your young children to join the rioters and terrorists who cut off heads and kill others," Pezeshkiyan said, adding that the government is ready to listen to the people and solve economic problems.

Alan Ayer, a former US diplomat and Iran expert, said it was unlikely that the protests would bring down the ruling system in Iran.

"I think it's more likely that the authorities will ultimately suppress these protests, but that they will emerge from that process significantly weakened," Ayr told Reuters, adding that the ruling elite continues to act unitedly and that there is no organized opposition.

Iranian state television broadcast footage of the funerals of security forces members killed in protests in western cities such as Gachsaran and Yasuj.

According to state TV, 30 members of the security forces will be buried in the central city of Isfahan, while another six were killed by "rioters" in the western city of Kermanshah.

US ready to help, says Trump

Trump tweeted on Saturday: "Iran is looking towards FREEDOM, perhaps like never before. The US is ready to help!!!"

During a phone call on Saturday, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and US Secretary of State Marco Rubio discussed the possibility of US intervention in Iran, an Israeli source familiar with the conversation said.

Reza Pahlavi, the exiled son of Iran's last shah and a prominent voice of the fragmented opposition, said Trump recognized the "indescribable courage" of the Iranian people.

"Don't leave the streets," Pahlavi, who lives in the US, wrote on the X network.

Maryam Rajavi, the elected president of the National Council of Resistance of Iran, an opposition group based in Paris, wrote on X Network that the people of Iran had "taken control of public spaces and reshaped the political landscape of the country."

Her organization, also known as the Mujahedin-e-Halk (MEK), participated in the 1979 revolution but later broke with the ruling clergy and fought against them during the Iran-Iraq War of the 1980s.

Netanyahu, speaking at a cabinet meeting, said Israel was closely monitoring developments.

"We all hope that the Persian people will soon be freed from the yoke of tyranny," he said.