Unrest in Iran has killed more than 500 people, a human rights group said on Sunday, as Tehran warned it would target U.S. military bases if President Donald Trump follows through on renewed threats to intervene in support of protesters.
The Islamic Republic’s clerical leadership is facing its biggest demonstrations since 2022. Trump has repeatedly threatened intervention should force be used against demonstrators.
The U.S.-based rights group HRANA, citing activists inside and outside Iran, said it had confirmed the deaths of 490 protesters and 48 members of the security forces, with more than 10,600 people arrested during two weeks of unrest.
Iran has not released official casualty figures, and Reuters said it could not independently verify the tolls.
A U.S. official reports Trump was due to meet senior advisers on Tuesday to discuss options on Iran. The Wall Street Journal reported that those options included military strikes, covert cyber operations, expanded sanctions and providing online assistance to anti-government groups.
“The military is looking at it, and we’re looking at some very strong options,” Trump told reporters aboard Air Force One on Sunday night.
Iranian parliament speaker Mohammad Baqer Qalibaf warned Washington against “a miscalculation.”
“Let us be clear: in the case of an attack on Iran, the occupied territories (Israel) as well as all U.S. bases and ships will be our legitimate target,” said Qalibaf, a former commander of Iran’s elite Revolutionary Guards.
Authorities Intensify Crackdown
The protests began on December 28 over soaring prices before evolving into broader opposition to Iran’s clerical rulers, who have governed since the 1979 Islamic Revolution.
Iranian authorities accused the United States and Israel of fomenting unrest and called for nationwide rallies on Monday to condemn “terrorist actions led by the United States and Israel,” state media reported.
An internet blackout imposed since Thursday has restricted the flow of information from Iran. Trump said on Sunday he would speak with Elon Musk about restoring internet access through the Starlink satellite service.
Videos circulating on social media showed large crowds marching at night in Tehran, clapping and chanting. In one clip, a man can be heard saying the crowd “has no end nor beginning.”
Footage from the northeastern city of Mashhad showed smoke rising from street fires, masked protesters, debris-strewn roads and the sound of explosions.
State television broadcast images of dozens of body bags at Tehran’s coroner’s office, saying the dead were victims of events caused by “armed terrorists.” It also showed families gathered outside the Kahrizak Forensic Medical Centre waiting to identify bodies.
U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said he was shocked by reports of violence by Iranian authorities and urged restraint. “The rights to freedom of expression, association & peaceful assembly must be fully respected & protected,” he said on X.
Authorities declared three days of national mourning on Sunday “in honour of martyrs killed in resistance against the United States and the Zionist regime,” according to state media.
Three Israeli sources said Israel was placed on high alert following security consultations over the weekend amid the possibility of U.S. intervention.
Israel and Iran fought a 12-day war in June 2025, which the United States briefly joined by striking Iranian nuclear facilities. Iran responded by firing missiles at Israel and a U.S. air base in Qatar.
‘Rioters and Terrorists’
While Iran’s leadership has weathered past protests, the latest unrest comes as Tehran continues to recover from last year’s war and as its regional influence has been weakened by setbacks to allies such as Lebanon’s Hezbollah following the Hamas-led October 7, 2023 attacks on Israel.
The unrest coincides with Trump projecting U.S. power abroad, having ousted Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro and discussed acquiring Greenland by purchase or force.
Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian accused Israel and the United States of orchestrating destabilisation, saying Iran’s enemies had brought in “terrorists … who set mosques on fire … attack banks, and public properties”.
“Families, I ask you: do not allow your young children to join rioters and terrorists who behead people and kill others,” he said in a televised interview, adding that the government was ready to listen to public grievances and address economic problems.
Iran summoned Britain’s ambassador on Sunday over what it described as “interventionist comments” by the British foreign minister and an incident in which a protester replaced the Iranian flag at the London embassy with a pre-1979 revolution-style flag.
Alan Eyre, a former U.S. diplomat and Iran expert, said it was unlikely the protests would topple the ruling establishment.
“I think it more likely that it puts these protests down eventually, but emerges from the process far weaker,” he told Reuters, adding that Iran’s elite appeared cohesive and that there was no organised opposition.
Iranian state television showed funeral processions in western cities including Gachsaran and Yasuj for security personnel killed in the unrest.
State TV said 30 members of the security forces would be buried in the central city of Isfahan, while six others were killed by “rioters” in Kermanshah.
US Ready To Help, Says Trump
Trump said in a social media post on Saturday: “Iran is looking at FREEDOM, perhaps like never before. The USA stands ready to help!!!”
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio discussed the possibility of U.S. intervention in Iran during a phone call on Saturday, according to an Israeli source.
In the United States, demonstrators staged rallies in support of Iranian protesters. In Los Angeles’ Westwood neighbourhood, a rental truck drove into a crowd of several hundred people attending a rally, KNBC reported.
Los Angeles Police officer Sean Murray said video footage showed the driver being escorted away by police. He said it was unclear how many people were injured, but all were treated at the scene.
Reza Pahlavi, the exiled son of Iran’s last shah and a prominent opposition figure based in the United States, praised what he described as Iranians’ “indescribable bravery”. “Do not abandon the streets,” he wrote on X.
