Around 2,000 people have been killed in Iran amid the ongoing protests, an Iranian official told Reuters on Tuesday, blaming "terrorists" for the deaths of civilians and security personnel. In addition, UN human rights chief Volker Turk said on Tuesday that he was "horrified" by mounting violence by Iran's security forces against peaceful protesters. "This cycle of horrific violence cannot continue. The Iranian people and their demands for fairness, equality, and justice must be heard," Turk, the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, said in a statement read out by UN rights office spokesperson Jeremy Laurence.
Asked to comment on the scale of the killings, Laurence, citing the United Nations' own sources in Iran, said, "The number that we're hearing is hundreds." Meanwhile, sources have told The Jerusalem Post that in the western Iranian provinces of West Azerbaijan, Kurdistan, Kermanshah, and Ilam, entrances to many cities have been blocked and numerous checkpoints have been set up.
According to the sources, Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps security forces are stopping vehicles, searching them, and in some cases forcing citizens to unlock their mobile phones. In border areas, including Sardasht in West Azerbaijan, as well as in Baneh and Marivan in the Kurdistan Province, heavy military equipment and IRGC special forces have been deployed, according to the Post'ssources. The situation has severely disrupted the daily lives of border villages, and widespread restrictions on movement and local activities have been imposed. (Read More)
