Deaths in Iran’s crackdown on protests reach at least 7,000, activists say

Deaths in Iran’s crackdown on protests reach at least 7,000, activists say 1 of 8 | Iran marked the 47th anniversary of its 1979 Islamic Revolution on Wednesday as the country’s theocracy remains under pressure, both from U.S. President Donald Trump who suggested sending another aircraft carrier group to the Middle East and a public angrily denouncing Tehran’s bloody crackdown on nationwide protests. 2 of 8 | President Donald Trump met privately with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Wednesday and said he’d insisted that negotiations with Iran continue as the U.S. pushes for a nuclear deal with Tehran. 3 of 8 | Iran’s president offered apologies to the nation a month after thousands were killed during a bloody crackdown on nationwide protests. Masoud Pezeshkian acknowledged the crackdown that began in earnest on Jan. 8 had “caused great sorrow.” (AP video: Saeed Sarmadi) 4 of 8 | In this photo released on Monday, Feb. 9, 2026, by the official website of the office of the Iranian supreme leader, Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei addresses the nation in a televised speech. (Office of the Iranian Supreme Leader via AP) 5 of 8 | In this photo released by Iran’s Supreme National Security Council office, Secretary of the Supreme National Security Council Ali Larijani, right, listens to Omani Foreign Minister Badr al-Busaidi during their meeting in Muscat, Oman, Tuesday, Feb. 10, 2026. (Erfan Kouchari/Iran’s Supreme National Security Council Office via AP) 6 of 8 | In this photo released by Iran’s Supreme National Security Council office, Secretary of the Supreme National Security Council Ali Larijani, center, arrives in Muscat, Oman, Tuesday, Feb. 10, 2026. (Erfan Kouchari/Iran’s Supreme National Security Council Office via AP) 7 of 8 | In this photo released by the Oman’s Foreign Ministry, Steve Witkoff, White House special envoy, center, shakes hands with Oman’s Foreign Minister Sayyid Badr Albusaidi as Jared Kushner, left, looks on during their meeting prior to Iran and the U.S. negotiations, in Muscat, Oman, Friday, Feb. 6, 2026. (Oman Foreign Ministry via AP) 8 of 8 | This is a locator map for Iran with its capital, Tehran. (AP Photo) 1 of 8 Iran marked the 47th anniversary of its 1979 Islamic Revolution on Wednesday as the country’s theocracy remains under pressure, both from U.S. President Donald Trump who suggested sending another aircraft carrier group to the Middle East and a public angrily denouncing Tehran’s bloody crackdown on nationwide protests. Add AP News on Google Add AP News as your preferred source to see more of our stories on Google. 2 of 8 President Donald Trump met privately with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Wednesday and said he’d insisted that negotiations with Iran continue as the U.S. pushes for a nuclear deal with Tehran. Add AP News on Google Add AP News as your preferred source to see more of our stories on Google. 3 of 8 Iran’s president offered apologies to the nation a month after thousands were killed during a bloody crackdown on nationwide protests. Masoud Pezeshkian acknowledged the crackdown that began in earnest on Jan. 8 had “caused great sorrow.” (AP video: Saeed Sarmadi) Add AP News on Google Add AP News as your preferred source to see more of our stories on Google. 4 of 8 In this photo released on Monday, Feb. 9, 2026, by the official website of the office of the Iranian supreme leader, Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei addresses the nation in a televised speech. (Office of the Iranian Supreme Leader via AP) Add AP News on Google Add AP News as your preferred source to see more of our stories on Google. 5 of 8 In this photo released by Iran’s Supreme National Security Council office, Secretary of the Supreme National Security Council Ali Larijani, right, listens to Omani Foreign Minister Badr al-Busaidi during their meeting in Muscat, Oman, Tuesday, Feb. 10, 2026. (Erfan Kouchari/Iran’s Supreme National Security Council Office via AP) Add AP News on Google Add AP News as your preferred source to see more of our stories on Google. 6 of 8 In this photo released by Iran’s Supreme National Security Council office, Secretary of the Supreme National Security Council Ali Larijani, center, arrives in Muscat, Oman, Tuesday, Feb. 10, 2026. (Erfan Kouchari/Iran’s Supreme National Security Council Office via AP) Add AP News on Google Add AP News as your preferred source to see more of our stories on Google. 7 of 8 In this photo released by the Oman’s Foreign Ministry, Steve Witkoff, White House special envoy, center, shakes hands with Oman’s Foreign Minister Sayyid Badr Albusaidi as Jared Kushner, left, looks on during their meeting prior to Iran and the U.S. negotiations, in Muscat, Oman, Friday, Feb. 6, 2026. (Oman Foreign Ministry via AP) Add AP News on Google Add AP News as your preferred source to see more of our stories on Google. 8 of 8 This is a locator map for Iran with its capital, Tehran. (AP Photo) Add AP News on Google Add AP News as your preferred source to see more of our stories on Google. Updated [hour]:[minute] [AMPM] [timezone], [monthFull] [day], [year] DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP) — The death toll from a crackdown over Iran’s nationwide protests last month has reached at least 7,002 people killed with many more still feared dead, activists said Thursday.The slow rise in the number of dead from the demonstrations adds to the overall tensions facing Iran both inside the country and abroad as it tries to negotiate with the United States over its nuclear program. A second round of talks remains up in the air as Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu pressed his case directly with U.S. President Donald Trump to intensify his demands on Tehran in the negotiations. “There was nothing definitive reached other than I insisted that negotiations with Iran continue to see whether or not a Deal can be consummated. If it can, I let the Prime Minister know that will be a preference,” Trump wrote afterward on his TruthSocial website. “Last time Iran decided that they were better off not making a Deal, and they were hit. ... That did not work well for them. Hopefully this time they will be more reasonable and responsible.” Meanwhile, Iran at home faces still-simmering anger over its wide-ranging suppression of all dissent in the Islamic Republic. That rage may intensify in the coming days as families of the dead begin marking the traditional 40-day mourning for the loved ones. Activists’ death toll slowly risesThe U.S.-based Human Rights Activists News Agency, which offered the latest figures, has been accurate in counting deaths during previous rounds of unrest in Iran and relies on a network of activists in Iran to verify deaths. The slow rise in the death toll has come as the agency slowly is able to crosscheck information as communication remains difficult with those inside of the Islamic Republic. Iran’s government offered its only death toll on Jan. 21, saying 3,117 people were killed. Iran’s theocracy in the past has undercounted or not reported fatalities from past unrest.The Associated Press has been unable to independently assess the death toll, given authorities have disrupted internet access and international calls in Iran.The rise in the death toll comes as Iran tries to negotiate with the United States over its nuclear program. Diplomacy over Iran continuesSenior Iranian security official Ali Larijani met Wednesday in Qatar with Foreign Minister Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al Thani. Qatar hosts a major U.S. military installation that Iran attacked in June, after the U.S. bombed Iranian nuclear sites during the 12-day Iran-Israel war in June. Larijani also met with officials of the Palestinian Hamas militant group, and in Oman with Tehran-backed Houthi rebels from Yemen on Tuesday.Larijani told Qatar’s Al Jazeera satellite news network that Iran did not receive any specific proposal from the U.S. in Oman, but acknowledged that there was an “exchange of messages.”Qatar has been a key negotiator in the past with Iran, with which it shares a massive offshore natural gas field in the Persian Gulf. Its state-run Qatar News Agency reported that ruling emir Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani spoke with Trump about “the current situation in the region and international efforts aimed at de-escalation and strengthening regional security and peace,” without elaborating. The U.S. has moved the aircraft carrier USS Abraham Lincoln, ships and warplanes to the Middle East to pressure Iran into an agreement and have the firepower necessary to strike the Islamic Republic should Trump choose to do so. Already, U.S. forces have shot down a drone they said got too close to the Lincoln and came to the aid of a U.S.-flagged ship that Iranian forces tried to stop in the Strait of Hormuz, the narrow mouth of the Persian Gulf. Trump told the news website Axios that he was considering sending a second carrier to the region. “We have an armada that is heading there and another one might be going,” he said. Concern over Nobel Peace Prize laureateMeanwhile, the Norwegian Nobel Committee said it was “deeply appalled by credible reports detailing the brutal arrest, physical abuse and ongoing life‑threatening mistreatment” of 2023 Peace Prize laureate Narges Mohammadi. The committee that awards the prize said it had information Mohammadi had been beaten during her arrest in December and continued to be mistreated. It called for her immediate and unconditional release.“She continues to be denied adequate, sustained medical follow‑up while being subjected to heavy interrogation and intimidation,” the committee said. “She has fainted several times, suffers from dangerously high blood pressure and has been prevented from accessing necessary follow‑up for suspected breast tumors.”Iran just sentenced Mohammadi, 53, to over seven more years in prison. Supporters had warned for months before her arrest that she was at risk of being put back into prison after she received a furlough in December 2024 over medical concerns. ___Associated Press writer Melanie Lidman in Washington contributed to this report. Gambrell is the news director for the Gulf and Iran for The Associated Press. He has reported from each of the Gulf Cooperation Council countries, Iran and other locations across the world since joining the AP in 2006.