PARIS, France, Jan 17, 2026 (BSS/AFP) - The wave of protests that rocked Iran in recent weeks left thousands dead, according to monitors and rights groups, but discrepencies exist for the toll which according to some estimates could be as high as 20,000.

All groups working to count the toll emphasise their task has been severely complicated by the blanket internet shutdown by the Iranian authorities, meaning that some of the figures published currently represent a minimum of verified cases.

Here is a breakdown of different tolls:

- Iran-focused rights groups -

The Norway-based Iran Human Rights group has verified that 3,428 protesters have been killed by security forces.

That toll is based on cases IHR has verified itself or via two independent sources. It also includes data received from sources within the health ministry for January 8 to 12, the organisation said in a recent report.

The organisation warns the toll is likely much higher -- citing estimates from 5,000 to 20,000 deaths -- but lack of access to information due to the internet blackout imposed on January 8 has severely hampered verification.

As of January 15, the Human Rights Activists in Iran (HRANA) said 2,677 deaths had been confirmed and that it was investigating another 1,693 cases. Another 2,677 people were severely injured, it said.

- Media outside Iran -

At least 12,000 people were killed during protests, mostly on January 8 and 9, said Iran International, a Persian-language opposition channel based outside the country, citing senior government and security sources.

"After cross-checking information obtained from reliable sources, including the Supreme National Security Council and the presidential office, the initial estimate by the Islamic republic's security institutions is that at least 12,000 people were killed," it said.

CBS news this week said "two sources, including one inside Iran" told the US news outlet "that at least 12,000, and possibly as many as 20,000 people have been killed".

- Iranian officials -

Iran's Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi told Fox News the death toll was "hundreds", denying the figures reported by the groups abroad as an "exaggeration" and a "misinformation campaign" to draw US President Donald Trump into making good on a threat to strike Iran if protesters were killed.

Iranian authorities have reported dozens of security force deaths but there has not been a recent overall toll. Funerals of security force members who were killed have become mass rallies inside the Islamic republic.

- International organisations -

The UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Volker Turk said this week he was "horrified" by the violence against protesters, saying "reports indicate many hundreds have been killed".

Amnesty International called the crackdown "a massacre", saying that "by official admission" the death toll had reached 2,000 as of a January 14 report, but that rights groups put the toll at much higher.

Human Rights Watch said "thousands of protesters and bystanders are believed to have been killed" adding that the government's "severe restrictions on communications have concealed the true scale of atrocities".

In Geneva, a UN rights spokesman told AFP it was in touch with several organisations including IHR on the toll and was "receiving reports indicating a high death toll, much higher than previous protests denoting possible levels of violence we haven't seen in the past".