UN reacts as Iran protests escalates, mass killing reported

The United Nations Secretary-General, Antonio Guterres has reacted to the ongoing protest in Iran where many people have reportedly killed.

Guterres in a statement on Sunday said he was shocked by reports of violence and excessive use of force by the Iranian authorities against protesters in multiple locations across the Islamic Republic of Iran.

The UN Chief stated that all Iranians must be able to express their grievances peacefully and without fear, adding that the rights to freedom of expression, association and peaceful assembly, as enshrined in international law, must be fully respected and protected.

He urged the Iranian authorities to exercise maximum restraint and to refrain from disproportionate use of force while appealed for steps that enable access to information in the country, including restoring communications.

Disturbing reports are emerging from Iran as nationwide protests enter their second week. According to accounts cited by international media, security forces have opened fire on protesters and civilians, including children.

Hospitals are reportedly overwhelmed, with medical staff describing chaotic conditions and severe shortages. In one account shared with foreign media, a doctor said dozens were killed in a single night, while morgues were filled beyond capacity.
The Iranian regime has shut down internet and phone lines in an apparent attempt to suppress the uprising and limit coverage. Despite the crackdown, protesters say the demonstrations are larger and more determined than ever.

While this crackdown on nationwide protests in Iran has killed at least 538 people and even more are feared dead, activists said on Sunday, Tehran warned that the United States military and Israel would be “legitimate targets” if America uses force to protect demonstrators.

Moreso, it was also reported that 10,600 people have been detained over the two weeks of protests, said the U.S.-based Human Rights Activists News Agency, which has been accurate in previous rounds of unrest in Iran in recent years.
It also said of those killed, 490 were protesters and 48 were members of security forces. With the internet down in Iran and phone lines cut off, gauging the demonstrations from abroad has grown more difficult.

Those abroad fear the information blackout is emboldening hard-liners within Iran’s security services to launch a bloody crackdown. Protesters flooded the streets in the country’s capital and its second-largest city again Sunday morning.

With the Islamic Republic’s clerical establishment facing the biggest demonstrations since 2022, the United States President Donald Trump has repeatedly threatened to get involved if force is used on protesters.

Trump was to meet with senior advisers on Tuesday to discuss options for Iran, a U.S. official told Reuters on Sunday. The Wall Street Journal had also reported that options included military strikes, using secret cyber weapons, widening sanctions and providing online help to anti-government sources.
“The military is looking at it, and we’re looking at some very strong options,” US President told reporters travelling on Air Force One on Sunday night.

Trump said he was in contact with Iranian opposition leaders. He also said, without elaborating, that Iran’s leaders had called him on Saturday and want to negotiate, and that he might talk to them.

The protests began on December 28 in response to soaring prices, before turning against the clerical rulers who have governed since the 1979 Islamic Revolution.

The Iranian authorities has accused the U.S. and Israel of fomenting trouble and called for a nationwide rally on Monday to condemn “terrorist actions led by the United States and Israel,” state media reported.