Iran, pro-regime counter-demonstration in Tehran. Deaths from protests rise to 572

Meanwhile, the budget continues to worsen victims in protests. According to the US-based Human Rights Activists News Agency (Hrana), they are so far 572 confirmed deathsalthough the real figure could be significantly higher.

According to data released, the victims include 503 protesters and 69 members of the security forces. The organization, also considered reliable during previous protest waves in the country, develops its estimates through a network of supporters present in Iran who verify the information. Hrana further reports that over 10,600 people were arrested since the beginning of the demonstrations, now in their third week.

And the government continues to show an iron fist. There will be no tolerance for those who incite demonstrations against the regime in Iran, wrote the head of the Iranian judiciary Mohsen Ejei on ‘X’. “There will be zero tolerance towards those who incited and are inciting people to riots, as well as those who provoked individuals through ambiguous statements,” Ejei wrote.

The ambassadors of Italy, France, Germany and Great Britain have been summoned

The Iranian authorities have also summoned the ambassadors and chargés d’affaires in Tehran of Italy, France, Germany and the United Kingdom to protest against the support given by the four European countries to the anti-government protests that have been shaking the Islamic Republic since December 28. According to the BBC, the four European diplomats were summoned to the Iranian Ministry of Foreign Affairs to view videos of what Iranian authorities described as “violence by rioters”. Tehran showed images of street protests, claiming that the unrest went beyond simple peaceful demonstrations.

According to local media, Foreign Ministry officials told ambassadors that any political or media support for the protests was unacceptable and constituted interference in Iran’s internal affairs.

“Araghchi-Witkoff Contact”

Meanwhile the Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi contacted White House envoy Steve Witkoff over the weekendagainst the backdrop of President Donald Trump’s threats of a possible use of military force against Tehran in support of the protests that have been ongoing in Iran for weeks. Two informed sources told Axios, according to which the Iranian initiative seems to indicate an attempt to de-escalation with Washington, or at least to gain time before any US decisions to further weaken the regime.

This is the first sign that the direct channel of communication between the United States and Iran remains opendespite the stalemate in nuclear negotiations and the exchange of threats between the two countries. The same sources report that Araghchi and Witkoff would have discussed the possibility of a meeting in the next few days.