At least 16,500 protesters have been killed and about 330,000 injured during Iran’s unrest, according to a report compiled by doctors inside the country and cited by The Sunday Times, as a near-total internet blackout has made independent verification increasingly difficult.
The report, based on information from a network of medical professionals across Iran, said the injuries included widespread gunshot wounds and severe eye trauma, with hundreds to thousands suffering permanent blindness.
Iran’s Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei acknowledged for the first time on Saturday that “several thousands” had been killed since protests began three weeks ago, blaming the violence on protesters and foreign enemies.
The doctors’ report said most deaths occurred over two days during what it described as the most violent phase of the crackdown in the Islamic Republic’s 47-year history, with most victims believed to be under 30.
Professor Amir Parasta, an Iranian-German eye surgeon and medical director of Munich MED, told The Sunday Times the data was gathered through doctors communicating via smuggled Starlink satellite terminals after internet access was cut on January 8.
“This time they are using military-grade weapons,” Parasta was quoted as saying, adding that doctors were seeing gunshot and shrapnel wounds to the head, neck and chest. He said at least 700 to 1,000 people had lost an eye.
Figures compiled from eight major eye hospitals and 16 emergency departments cited in the report put the number of injured between 330,000 and 360,000. One Tehran eye hospital, Noor Clinic, documented around 7,000 eye injuries alone, according to the report.
An ophthalmologist quoted by The Sunday Times said the volume of pellet-related eye injuries had overwhelmed hospitals. Another witness cited said more than 800 eye removals were performed in a single night in Tehran.
Medical sources said some patients died due to blood shortages, with one surgeon quoted as saying security forces had at times prevented blood transfusions.
Witnesses who spoke to The Sunday Times described security forces firing live ammunition at protesters, including shots aimed at heads, and deploying snipers on rooftops. Accounts also described the use of Kalashnikov rifles and machineguns mounted on vehicles.
The report said many wounded protesters avoided hospitals out of fear of arrest, while some injured patients were allegedly taken from operating theatres by security forces.
Several witnesses said bodies were removed from streets by security forces and transferred to other cities, while families were pressured to pay large sums to retrieve remains.
Iranian authorities have repeatedly blamed the unrest on foreign powers, including the United States and Israel. In his address, Khamenei described protesters as “foot-soldiers of the United States” and claimed they were armed with weapons imported from abroad.
The protests began in late December over economic grievances and rapidly spread nationwide, intensifying after January 8 following a call to demonstrate by Reza Pahlavi, son of Iran’s late shah.
Despite the scale of reported casualties, the full extent of the violence remains unclear due to the ongoing communications blackout, now in its tenth day, and restrictions on independent reporting.
Human rights activists and medical professionals cited in the report warned that the true toll could be higher, saying many deaths and injuries have gone unrecorded amid fear, secrecy and the continued presence of security forces across Iranian cities.
Ali Khamenei in his Saturday speech blamed the United States for casualties, damage and what he described as slander against Iran, directly targeting President Donald Trump for encouraging unrest and promising support to protesters.
“We consider the US president a criminal for the casualties, damages, and the slander he inflicted on the Iranian nation,” Khamenei said. He further described the recent protests as “an American plot” and accused Washington of seeking to “devour Iran.”
Supreme leader links unrest to Washington
Trump, Khamenei said, had personally intervened, accusing him of making statements that emboldened demonstrators and pledging military backing. “Trump himself intervened in this unrest, made statements, encouraged the rioters, and said we will provide military support,” he added.
The events, he said, were planned by Americans with the aim of asserting control over Iran, repeating a long-standing narrative that external forces are behind domestic dissent. He also accused the US president of misrepresenting those involved in the unrest, saying Trump portrayed “vandals” as the Iranian nation.
At least 12,000 people have been killed in Iran in the largest killing in the country's contemporary history, much of it carried out on January 8 and 9 during an ongoing internet shutdown, according to senior government and security sources speaking to Iran International.
The killing was carried out on the direct order of Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei, with the explicit knowledge and approval of the heads of all three branches of government, and with an order for live fire issued by the Supreme National Security Council, Iran International has learned.
Warning to protesters and alleged backers
Khamenei issued a warning that extended beyond street protests to those he described as "instigators" at home and abroad.
The leader of the Islamic Republic said he does not intend to steer the country toward war but will not let "domestic criminals" go, while also acknowledging that “several thousand people” were killed during widespread protests across Iran.
“The Iranian nation, just as it broke the back of the riot, must also break the back of those who instigated it.”
Authorities and society, he added, would not relent in pursuing those blamed for the unrest. “The Iranian nation will not let go of the domestic and international criminals behind this unrest,” Khamenei said.
Among Iranians inside the country and across the diaspora, the pause is increasingly interpreted not as restraint but as a dangerous limbo.
Calls for decisive military action are now openly framed as a necessary step to halt executions and mass violence, while hesitation is seen as compounding an already unbearable strain.
In Persian-language commentary circulating widely online, Trump’s posture is described as calculated ambiguity rather than caution.
Trump’s public gestures, including a post thanking Iran’s leadership and authorities for not executing detained protesters, are dismissed by critics as deliberate misdirection. They say the aim is to buy time while the United States strengthens its offensive and defensive military position in the Persian Gulf.
“The shadow of a Trump attack on Iran has not disappeared. He uses his intelligence for deception more than for anything else. His post thanking Khamenei and the authorities is also deceptive. He is buying time to reach a strong offensive and defensive military position in the Persian Gulf and to decide on a surprise strike at the optimal moment,” wrote a user.
For many, the conclusion is blunt: military confrontation is inevitable.
“A military attack on the clerics is inevitable. You shouldn’t get too caught up in daily noise. The same fluctuations existed before the 12-day war. The only course is to keep documenting the clerics’ crimes and to keep demanding and applying pressure on the United States and Israel for a maximal attack,” wrote another one.
Trump remarks fuel disbelief and anger
Trump’s own comments have inflamed skepticism. "We have been told that the killing in Iran is stopping, it has stopped, it's stopping," he told reporters in the Oval Office Wednesday afternoon. "And there's no plan for executions or an execution or executions. So, I've been told that on good authority. We'll find out about it."
He also said on Friday: "Nobody convinced me, I convinced myself. You had yesterday scheduled over 800 hangings. They didn't hang anyone. They cancelled the hangings. That had a big impact."
Public reaction to Trump’s remarks was colored by memories of past crises and government narratives that later unraveled.
“Sure, Mr. Trump,” one user wrote, “they also told us they didn’t shoot down the Ukrainian plane.”
The post referenced Flight PS752, which Iranian authorities denied downing in 2020 for several days before acknowledging it was downed by Iranian missiles, hardening skepticism.
Ambiguity seen as tactic to preserve leverage
A recurring theme was Trump’s communication style. “This is Trump’s usual way,” one post read. “Maybe they called me, maybe I’ll negotiate, maybe I’ll attack, maybe I’ll attack first then negotiate. He uses this tactic to confuse his audience.”
Others argued the statements were designed to establish a record. “Politics is complex,” one user wrote. “He said that so if an attack happens tomorrow, the world won’t grab him asking why you struck. He can say, ‘I warned them and they didn’t listen.’”
Debate over patience, pressure and timing
Social media has also become a forum for strategic debate among Iranians about the role of time, restraint and foreign intervention. “This movement didn’t begin with hope for an American attack,” one wrote. “It shouldn’t end with despair over not getting one.”
Others emphasized endurance. “As long as people remain in the streets, we won’t lose hope,” another post said, arguing that internal pressure, not foreign strikes, would determine outcomes – even if outside action could shorten the path.
A more tactical strand of discussion focused on military logistics. Users pointed to reports of aircraft carrier movements, troop redeployments and regional preparations as signs that delay does not equal abandonment. “All these movements mean money, cost,” one post read. “Even if Trump orders it today, it takes weeks – equipment, transport, doctors, food.”
One argued that an immediate strike could trigger indiscriminate retaliation across the region – from Iraq and the Persian Gulf to Israel – and even false-flag attacks blamed on outside powers, invoking the PS752 precedent. In that view, delay allows for planning aimed at minimizing civilian casualties.
Some took a more psychological angle. “The fact that Trump hasn’t attacked yet has frayed your nerves,” one user wrote, “imagine what it’s doing to the nerves of the security forces.” The argument suggests waiting itself can function as pressure, exhausting those tasked with maintaining control.
Some also expressed relief that no strike had occurred, arguing that a rushed or limited attack could be politically symbolic rather than decisive, allowing leaders to disengage without addressing deeper risks. “Trump isn’t looking for a battle he can’t win,” one post said, suggesting preparation signals calculation rather than retreat.
For a society already accustomed to crisis, the waiting has become its own ordeal. Each day without action brings more frustration. As one user put it, half-joking and half-resigned, “Until news of an attack on Iran comes directly from Trump’s account, I won’t believe anything anymore.”
In the absence of certainty, Iranians continue to debate, wait and endure at one of the most sensitive moments in the country’s modern history where thousands have been killed.
