LONDON — The death toll in major anti-government protests in Iran reached 646 as of Monday, according to data published by the US-based Human Rights Activists News Agency (HRANA), over 16 days of unrest.
Hrana Agency said that at least 10,721 people were arrested in the protests that were recorded in 606 locations in 187 cities in all 31 Iranian provinces. The group reported that among the dead were 505 protesters and nine children.
HRANA data is based on the work of activists inside and outside the country. ABC News cannot independently verify these numbers. The Iranian government did not provide any death toll during the ongoing protests.
Meanwhile, Iranian state-aligned media reported that more than 100 members of the security forces were killed in the unrest. Harana said 133 military and security personnel were among those killed in the protest wave so far, along with one prosecutor.
This video taken on January 13, 2026 from UGC images posted on social media on January 10, 2026, shows clashes in Mashhad, in northeastern Iran.
-/UGC/AFP via Getty Images
US President Donald Trump on Monday announced 25% tariffs on any country doing business with Iran, after repeatedly warning Tehran against using force to suppress ongoing protests.
“With immediate effect, any country doing business with the Islamic Republic of Iran will pay a 25% tariff on any and all business conducted with the United States of America,” Trump said in a social media post on Monday. “This matter is final and decisive.”
Trump’s national security team is expected to meet at the White House on Tuesday to discuss his options for intervention in the Islamic Republic.
One US official told ABC News that among the options under consideration are imposing new sanctions on key figures in the regime or against Iran’s energy or banking sectors.
White House press secretary Carolyn Leavitt suggested to reporters on Monday that military options remain open to Trump.
President Donald Trump waves after arriving aboard Air Force One from Florida, Sunday, Jan. 11, 2026, at Joint Base Andrews, Maryland. (AP Photo/Julia Demaree Nickinson)
Associated Press
She said the president “always keeps all his options on the table and air strikes will be one of many options on the table for the commander in chief. Diplomacy is always the president’s first choice.”
Citing “escalating” protests and increased security measures, the State Department also urged Americans to leave Iran.
A new security warning posted on the website of the “virtual” US Embassy in Tehran on Monday said: “US citizens should expect continued internet outages, plan alternative means of communication, and, if safe, consider leaving Iran overland to Armenia or Turkey.”
Protests have spread across the country since late December. The first marches took place in downtown Tehran, where participants demonstrated against rising inflation and the devaluation of the national currency, the rial.
As the protests spread, some took a more pronounced anti-government tone.
FILE – Protesters walk on a bridge in Tehran, Iran, on December 29, 2025. (Fars News Agency via AP, File)
Associated Press
The theocratic government in Tehran – headed by Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei – moved to tame the protests, with security forces reportedly using tear gas and live ammunition to disperse the gatherings.
A nationwide internet outage has been ongoing for several days. Internet monitoring group NetBlocks said Tuesday that a “nationwide internet shutdown” had been ongoing for 108 hours.
Khamenei and senior Iranian officials have said they are willing to address the protesters’ economic grievances, despite portraying the unrest as being driven by “rioters” and “terrorists” sponsored by foreign countries – chief among them the United States and Israel – and supported by foreign hackers.
Foreign Minister Abbas Araqchi on Monday described the wave of protests as a “terrorist war” while speaking with foreign diplomats in Tehran.
State television on Monday also broadcast footage of pro-government rallies being held in other major cities.
Security forces monitor a pro-government march, January 12, 2026, in Tehran, Iran.
Majid Saeedi/Getty Images
The footage showed crowds waving Iranian flags in Tehran’s Revolution Square. State television described the Tehran demonstration as an “Iranian uprising against American-Zionist terrorism.”
Meanwhile, opposition figures abroad urged Iranians to take to the streets and overthrow the government.
Exiled Iranian Crown Prince Reza Pahlavi – who from his base in the United States has become a prominent critic of the Iranian government – on Monday appealed to Trump to act in support of the protesters.
“You have called people to the streets to fight for their freedom and to overcome the security forces in large numbers. They did that last night. Your threat to this criminal regime has also kept the regime’s thugs at bay. But time is of the essence,” Pahlavi wrote on X.
Pahlavi added: “I hope you are ready to intervene to help the Iranian people.”
ABC News Somaya Malekian, Morgan Winsor, Meredith DeLiso, Anne Flaherty and Maryam Khan cattributed to this report.
