Tehran/Washington, 12 January 2026 (dpa/MIA) - Mass protests in Iran continued on Sunday despite a rising death toll from a state crackdown, threats from the security apparatus and an almost complete internet blackout.

At least 544 people have been killed during the mass protests over the past 15 days, the US-based Human Rights Activists News Agency (HRANA) said in a statement.

HRANA said 483 of those killed were protesters, while 47 members of military and law enforcement forces had been killed. Eight children were also recorded among the dead, alongside five people killed as non-protesting civilian citizens and a government-affiliated prosecutor.

Around 10,700 people have reportedly been detained, HRANA added.

The organization said protests have taken place at 585 locations across the country, in 186 cities, spanning all 31 provinces.

The information could not initially be independently verified.

The actual number of fatalities could be much higher, as communication with the outside world is severely restricted due to internet blackouts and blocked phone lines.

The protests were triggered about two weeks ago by the country's crippling economic crisis, but quickly turned into political demonstrations against the apparatus of the Islamic Republic.

Parliamentary speaker threatens US, Israel and protesters

Iran threatened Israel and the United States with counterstrikes in the event of a US attack in support of the protest movement.

Any US attack would lead to strikes on Israel and regional US military bases as "legitimate targets," Iranian Parliamentary Speaker Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf told the Arabic broadcaster Al Araby, according to a Sunday post on X.

The Israeli military later responded to the threat: "We will be equipped to respond with power if need be." It said it was "monitoring developments in Iran," but that "the protests are an internal Iranian matter."

US President Donald Trump had shortly before assured participants in the ongoing mass protests in Iran of his support.

"Iran is looking at FREEDOM, perhaps like never before," he said. "The USA stands ready to help!!!" Trump wrote on his platform Truth Social. How this help will manifest is unclear.

Citing US officials, the New York Times reported that Trump had been briefed in recent days on new options for military strikes in Iran.

Ghalibaf accused the protest movement of wanting to create the basis for a US military intervention.

However, he said on the Iranian propaganda channel Press TV on Sunday that the "enemies" must know that the defenders of the country would destroy them.

The politician described the mass demonstrations as a terrorist war against the country orchestrated by the US. Participants in "terrorist acts" would be pursued with violence, and those arrested during the unrest would be punished, Ghalibaf said.

Access to internet in Iran remains blocked

The Iranian leadership has blocked the internet for the fourth consecutive day due to the protests.

NetBlocks, a global internet monitoring organization, said that connectivity from Iran to the outside world remained at just 1% of ordinary levels.

"At 72 hours, diminished telecoms continue to impact the public's ability to access information and communicate with loved ones," it said on social media.

Communication with the outside world is only possible via the Starlink satellite system, provided the necessary terminals have been brought into the country illegally.

"I just barely managed to log into the internet using Starlink," an Iranian user wrote on X. "The situation in Iran is extremely strange. We have absolutely no access to anything."

Online banking hardly works, SMS messages cannot be sent or received and normal phone calls barely function, she said. "Even government-owned messaging apps like Bale and Eitaa have disabled the sending of messages."

A dpa employee and relatives attempted to reach family and friends in Iran by phone from abroad. "We have test-called a range of mobile and landline numbers of contacts across Iran, and the network, like the internet, seems to be down nationwide. No one is reachable," said the employee.

One user wrote on X that the massacres are of a greater scale than all the killings of previous uprisings. Another reported that the number of bodies is so high that they were lined up in the courtyard.

According to the Iranian propaganda channel Press TV, 30 members of the security forces were reportedly killed during protests in the city of Isfahan.

All information cannot currently be independently verified.

Shah's son sends message to Iranian protest movement

Reza Pahlavi, the son of the Iranian shah who was overthrown in the Islamic Revolution of 1979, has adopted a more moderate tone in a new message to the protest movement.

"I ask all of you to go to the main streets of the cities in groups with your friends and family members; along the way, do not separate from one another or from the crowds of people; and do not take side streets that could endanger your lives," Pahlavi said, according to an English translation of his speech published on X.

On Saturday, Pahlavi, who lives in exile in the US, had called for nationwide strikes in key sectors such as the oil, gas and energy industries. He also called on demonstrators to occupy and control central squares in cities.

Photo: X