Death toll in Iran unrest increase past 2,500 says agency
發佈日期: 2026-01-14 22:11
TVB News
U.S.-based Human Rights Activists News Agency say almost 2,600 people have been killed in protests across Iran.
Of these, almost 150 are from the security forces, while the death toll also includes around a dozen children and those not involved in the protests.
U.S. President Donald Trump has encouraged Iranians to keep protesting while threatening military action against Tehran.
China's Foreign Ministry said it opposes the threat to use force in international relations.
Iranian state television for the first time officially acknowledged significant deaths in protests across the country.
It quoted an official as saying a high number of martyrs were among the dead, referring to almost 150 security officers and police, killed with "all kinds of firearms and cold weapons".
They are blaming the U.S. and Israel for stoking the protests.
This as residents report phone and internet lines were restored after being shut off by authorities.
U.S. President Donald Trump went on Truth Social encouraging protesters to continue taking to the streets.
"Iran Patriots, keep protesting - take over your institutions," he wrote. "Help is on the way."
When asked what kind of help the U.S. can offer, he said he needed to figure it out.
"Iran is, on my mind," said Trump. "When I see the kind of death that is happening over there, we think. We'll get some accurate numbers as to what's happening with regard to the killing. The killing looks like it's significant, but we don't know yet for certain."
Trump had not ruled out using missile strikes, even as he said Iran reached out to the U.S. on possible negotiations.
Some U.S. senators had mixed reactions to how the U.S. should support the demonstrators.
"I'm very concerned with the situation in Iran and statements made by President Trump about the demonstrators," said Democratic Senator Dick Durbin, of Illinois. "I think we need to take care to make sure that we don't overstep our boundaries."
Republican Senator, Markwayne Mullin, of Oklahoma, responding to a question on whether he would approve missile strikes, said: "Yes, absolutely. If it was a situation that warranted that. Absolutely, and then, of course, he had come in and brief Congress at the same time."
Iranian expatriates continued to show support for protesters at home, with hundreds staging a rally in Milan, Italy, calling on Trump to remove the ruling government.
A group of men were seen cutting out the symbol of the Islamic Republic at the centre of Iran's current tricolour, before tearing the flag to pieces.
In Rome, the Lion and Sun symbol used before the 1979 revolution was projected on to a building in the city centre and protestors staged a sit-in.
