This estimate is significantly higher than the 3,117 deaths reported by agencies subordinate to Iran's Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei on January 21. Furthermore, it exceeds the data from human rights organizations: the Human Rights Activists News Agency confirmed 5,459 deaths as of Saturday and is verifying information on 17,031 cases.
TIME notes that it has been unable to independently verify these figures. However, according to information gathered by doctors and emergency services, the number of deaths in hospitals stands at 30,304 as of Friday, as reported by German-Iranian ophthalmic surgeon Amir Parasta, who prepared the report. It is important to note that this statistic does not include data from military hospitals or information about the deceased from regions inaccessible to researchers.
The Iranian National Security Council informed TIME that protests have spread to about 4,000 settlements across the country. Dr. Parasta added that the actual number of deaths could be even higher. Experts interviewed by the publication claim that such a high mortality rate over 48 hours necessitates looking for historical parallels.
