Paris –
Iranian authorities on Wednesday said 3,117 people were killed during protests that first erupted in late December, but activists said the actual toll risked being many times higher due to a crackdown that suppressed the demonstrations.
Demonstrations and strikes initially sparked by economic grievances turned into a mass movement against the clerical leadership that has ruled Iran since the 1979 revolution, with people pouring into the streets in mass protests for several days from Jan. 8.
However, the protests appear, for now, to have petered out in the face of what activists describe as a crackdown under the cover of a blanket internet shutdown.