At least 6,126 people killed in Iran’s crackdown on nationwide protests, activists say : NPR

People walk past a billboard showing a U.S. aircraft carrier with damaged fighter jets on its deck, and a sign reading in Farsi and English: “If you sow the wind, you will reap a whirlwind,” at Enqelab-e-Eslami (Islamic Revolution) Square, in Tehran, Iran, Sunday, January 25, 2026.

Vahid Salemi/AP

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Vahid Salemi/AP

DUBAI, United Arab Emirates — Iran’s bloody crackdown on nationwide protests has killed at least 6,126 people and many more are feared, activists said Tuesday, as a U.S. aircraft carrier group arrived in the Middle East to lead any U.S. military response to the crisis.

The arrival of the aircraft carrier USS Abraham Lincoln and its accompanying guided-missile destroyers gives the United States the opportunity to strike Iran, especially as Gulf Arab states have indicated they want to stay away from any attack despite welcoming American military personnel.

Two Iranian-backed militias in the Middle East have signaled a willingness to launch new attacks, likely trying to support Iran after U.S. President Donald Trump threatened military action if peaceful protesters were killed or Tehran launched mass executions following the protests.

Iran has repeatedly threatened to drag the entire Middle East into war, although its air defense and military are still reeling from Israel’s June war against the country.

The Houthis and Kataib Hezbollah did not participate in Israel’s 12-day war against Iran, during which the United States bombed Iranian nuclear sites. The hesitation to get involved shows the dismay that still affects Iran’s self-proclaimed “Axis of Resistance” after facing attacks from Israel during its war against Hamas in the Gaza Strip.

Activists draw up new death toll

The new figures released Tuesday come from the American news agency Human Rights Activists News Agency, which has been proven accurate during several waves of unrest in Iran. The group verifies each death with a network of activists on the ground in Iran.

It identified among the dead at least 5,777 protesters, 214 members of government-affiliated forces, 86 children and 49 civilians who were not demonstrating. The repression resulted in more than 41,800 arrests, the press release added.

A Hezbollah supporter waves an Iranian flag during a rally to show solidarity with the Iranian government, in the southern suburbs of Beirut, Lebanon, Monday, January 26, 2026.

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Hussein Malla/AP

The Associated Press was unable to independently assess the death toll as authorities cut the internet and disrupted calls to the Islamic Republic.

The Iranian government put the death toll at a much lower figure of 3,117, saying 2,427 were civilians and members of the security forces, and calling the rest “terrorists.” In the past, Iran’s theocracy has underreported or not reported deaths from unrest.

The toll exceeds that of any other wave of protest or unrest in decades and recalls the chaos that surrounded Iran’s 1979 Islamic Revolution.

Protests in Iran began on December 28, sparked by the fall of the Iranian currency, the rial, and quickly spread across the country. They have faced a violent crackdown at the hands of Iran’s theocracy, the scale of which is only beginning to become clear as the country faces more than two weeks of internet blackout – the most complete in its history.

Iran’s U.N. ambassador told a U.N. Security Council meeting Monday evening that Trump’s repeated threats to use military force against the country “are neither ambiguous nor misinterpreted.” Amir Saeid Iravani also reiterated allegations that the US leader incited violence by US- and Israeli-backed “armed terrorist groups”, but provided no evidence to support his claims.

Iranian state media has attempted to blame foreign forces for the protests, as the theocracy remains largely unable to address the country’s ailing economy, which is still crushed by international sanctions, including over its nuclear program.

Some Iran-backed militias suggest willingness to fight

Iran has projected its power across the Middle East through the “Axis of Resistance,” a network of proxy militant groups in Gaza, Lebanon, Yemen, Syria and Iraq, and elsewhere. It was also seen as a defensive buffer, intended to keep the conflict away from Iran’s borders. But it collapsed after Israel targeted Hamas, Hezbollah in Lebanon and others during the Gaza war. Meanwhile, in 2024, rebels overthrew the Syrian regime of Bashar al-Assad after a bloody year-long war in which Iran supported his regime.

Yemen’s Iran-backed Houthi rebels have repeatedly warned they could resume fire if necessary on ships in the Red Sea, releasing old footage of a previous attack on Monday. Ahmad “Abu Hussein” al-Hamidawi, the leader of the Iraqi militia Kataib Hezbollah, warned “enemies that the war against the (Islamic) Republic will not be a picnic; on the contrary, you will taste the most bitter forms of death and nothing will remain of you in our region.”

The Lebanese militant group Hezbollah, one of Iran’s staunchest allies, declined to say how it planned to respond in the event of a possible attack.

“Over the past two months, several parties have asked me a clear and frank question: If Israel and America go to war with Iran, will Hezbollah intervene or not?” » said Hezbollah leader Sheikh Naim Kassem in a video speech.

He said the group was preparing for “a possible attack and was determined to defend itself” against it. But as to how it would act, he said, “those details will be determined by the battle and we will determine them based on the interests involved.”