Israel foreign minister calls for dismantling Iran’s regional allies

Iranian media quoted officials as saying sounds heard near a military center in Pakdasht, southeast of Tehran, were caused by routine activity and testing, and not by an explosion.

Follow-up checks showed the sounds came from standard measures and tests carried out at the facility, the Mehr news agency reported. It said no incident or explosion had occurred.

Reports circulating about a blast were not accurate, Mehr said.

Iran’s government said decisions on cutting internet access lie with security authorities, as a nationwide blackout has entered its third week.

Government spokesperson Fatemeh Mohajerani told a news conference that after events on Jan. 8 and 9, security policymakers decided the national internet network “had to be cut,” adding that the government could not override such decisions.

“Our approach is to support free internet,” she said. “But on security issues, we are all subject to these decisions.”

The internet blackout has continued into its 19th day. Internet monitor NetBlocks said on Monday that authorities were tightening filtering gaps to limit circumvention while allowing approved accounts to promote the Islamic Republic’s narrative.

The Iran-backed Kataib Hezbollah militia in Iraq launched a drive for members to pledge their willingness to defend Tehran with suicide missions, the group announced on Tuesday.

The campaign came after the group's leader Abu Hussein al-Hamidawi urged Iran's supporters everywhere to ready for its defense against Israel and the United States.

"We say to our dear mujahideen brothers to prepare themselves on the ground for this," he said in a statement, "(and) Jihadist action that rises to the level of martyrdom operations in defense of the people of Islam."

Image circulated on the group's Telegram account showed al-Hamidawi and followers of the group wearing symbolic white burial shrouds signing a document vowing readiness for suicide missions.

"Names of the martyrdom-seeking brothers ready to defend the Islamic Republic of Iran," the documents on the militia's official letterhead said.

Kataib Hezbollah, designated by the US as a terrorist organization, is part of Iraq’s Popular Mobilization Forces and has carried out attacks on US and allied targets in the region.

In a joint statement, Iran’s Martyrs Foundation and the Legal Medicine Organization said 3,117 people were killed during the nationwide protests in January.

The number itself, however, is strikingly familiar.

The same figure – 3,117 – has appeared in multiple, otherwise unrelated official datasets over recent years, including public health statistics, economic reports, and earlier protest-related announcements.

Variants of the number, particularly 1,039 and its multiples, have also been cited repeatedly in COVID-19 infection and hospitalization figures released by state bodies.

Analysts say that while identical numbers can recur by chance, the repeated use of a non-rounded figure across different sectors and time periods is statistically unlikely.

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  Over 36,500 killed in Iran's deadliest massacre, documents reveal

The pattern has prompted questions about whether such figures reflect genuine record-keeping, administrative shortcuts, or the use of standardized numbers in situations where full data are unavailable or politically sensitive.

Independent human rights organizations and international media have consistently challenged official casualty figures following protest crackdowns.

Their estimates – based on eyewitness testimony, hospital documentation, verified video evidence, and reports of serious injuries and enforced disappearances—point to significantly higher death tolls than those acknowledged by authorities.

According to documents reviewed by Iran International, more than 36,500 Iranians were killed by security forces during the January 8-9 crackdown on nationwide protests, making it the deadliest two-day protest massacre in history.

Official statements, by contrast, have offered little supporting detail. Names, locations, dates, and provincial breakdowns have not been released, limiting independent verification and intensifying criticism that casualty figures may be framed to downplay the scale of violence, particularly as international attention grows, including at the UN Human Rights Council.

The reappearance of 3,117 has reinforced long-standing skepticism over the reliability of official statistics in moments of crisis—when numbers carry political weight well beyond their face value.

Iran’s rial fell to a fresh record low on the unofficial market on Tuesday, with the US dollar quoted above 1.5 million rials, traders said.

The latest slide follows sharp swings since late December, when the currency’s fall helped trigger protests in Tehran and other cities.

Iran’s economy has been battered by years of sanctions and chronic inflation, prompting many Iranians to turn to hard currency and gold during periods of political and economic uncertainty.