According to intelligence that reached Israel and intelligence agencies in other countries in the Middle East, the death toll from the suppression of protests in Iran stands at around 20,000. The overwhelming majority were protesters and civilians, alongside several hundred members of the security forces who were killed in clashes with demonstrators, mainly in the north of the country.
Among the dead were hundreds who were executed by firing squad or hanging, mostly without trial. Israel Hayom previously reported that Israel assisted in obtaining intelligence indicating mass executions in Iran, contrary to assurances President Donald Trump received from Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian and his foreign minister. The Iranian regime denied conveying such a message and claimed there were not even 800 people slated for execution. However, intelligence that reached the US administration includes unequivocal evidence of such executions carried out by various methods.
The intelligence indicates that the bloodiest days were January 8 and 9, when tens of thousands of Basij members, units of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps and Iranian police were deployed at protest flashpoints. They used live fire, including machine guns and assault rifles, employing indiscriminate automatic fire at groups of demonstrators.
According to one testimony that reached Israel, during a protest in the city of Mashhad, regime security forces advanced in a line toward a group of hundreds of protesters and suddenly opened direct fire at them. The testimony says several regime personnel carried out confirmation kills on wounded protesters lying on the ground. Numerous accounts also describe regime forces entering hospitals and clinics and dragging out wounded protesters who had sought treatment. In some cases, the wounded were abducted; in others, they were shot outside hospital buildings. According to some testimonies, doctors and medical staff were also shot when they tried to prevent the abduction of the wounded.
A significant portion of the testimonies are recorded and accompanied by video footage and still photographs. The intelligence that reached the Americans was not provided by Israel alone. In the US, a special department has been established to collect and verify the materials. American officials are working to compile a list of regime figures involved in the massacre of protesters, both those who issued orders and those who carried them out on the ground.
An Israeli official said there is no certainty that this information will lead President Trump to decide on a military strike, but it is clear that the administration will not be able to stand by, especially in light of Trump's promises to support the protesters. The official added that Iran will not return to what it was before and that it is clear the regime, despite or perhaps because of the brutality it displayed, has been significantly weakened.
