DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP) – Iran’s bloody crackdown on nationwide protests has left at least 6,221 people dead and many more still at risk of death, activists said Wednesday. US aircraft carrier group arrives in Middle East Leads the U.S. military response to the crisis. Meanwhile, Iran’s currency, the rial, has fallen to an all-time low of 1.5 million rials to the dollar.
With the arrival of the USS Abraham Lincoln aircraft carrier and her accompanying guided missile destroyer; US ability to attack IranThis is especially true as Gulf Arab states have expressed a desire to avoid any attack, even though they are hosting U.S. military personnel.
Two Iranian-backed militias in the Middle East have indicated they intend to launch, and possibly support, new attacks. Iran In honor of US President Donald President Trump hints at military action over the killing of peaceful protesters and Tehran’s initiation of mass executions in response to the protests.
Iran has repeatedly threatened to draw the entire Middle East into war, but its air defenses and military remain reeling after the war Israel launched against Iran in June. But pressure on the economy could spark new fears as everyday goods gradually slip out of people’s hands, especially if President Trump chooses to go on the offensive.
Private security firm Ambry issued a notice Tuesday saying it assesses that the United States has “deployed sufficient military capabilities to conduct agile operations against Iran while maintaining the ability to protect itself and its regional allies from reciprocal action.”
“It has been assessed that supporting or retaliating against Iranian protesters with punitive attacks is insufficient to justify the continuation of the military conflict,” Ambry wrote. “However, alternative goals, such as reducing Iran’s military capabilities, may increase the likelihood of limited U.S. intervention.”
Activists announce new death toll
Wednesday’s new figures were released by the U.S.-based Human Rights Defenders News Agency, which said it was accurate regarding multiple incidents of unrest in Iran. The group works with Iranian local activist networks to confirm each death.
According to the announcement, the 6,221 people killed include at least 5,858 demonstrators, 214 government-affiliated troops, 100 children, and 49 civilians who did not participate in the demonstrations. It added that more than 42,300 people had been arrested in the crackdown.
The Associated Press has not been able to independently assess the death toll because authorities have shut down the internet and blocked calls to the Islamic Republic.
Iranian government put the death toll much lower at 3,117, with 2,427 civilians and security forces, and labeled the rest “terrorists”. Iran’s theocracy has previously undercounted or failed to report the death toll from the uprising.
A man hands out posters of Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Khamenei at the funeral of security forces killed during anti-government protests in Tehran, Iran, January 14, 2026. (AP Photo/Vahid Salemi)
People walk past a mural depicting the late founder of the Iranian revolution, Ayatollah Khomeini (right), members of the Basij militia and Supreme Leader Ayatollah Khamenei, on Enkelab-e-Eslami (Islamic Revolution) Street in Tehran, Iran, Sunday, January 25, 2026. (AP Photo/Vahid Salemi)
The death toll exceeds those from other protests and riots in recent decades and is reminiscent of the unrest over Iran’s 1979 Islamic Revolution.
Protests in Iran began on December 28 due to the depreciation of Iran’s currency, the rial, and quickly spread across the country. They have encountered violent repression by Iran’s theocracy, which has faced more than two weeks of violence whose scale is only beginning to become clear. internet power outage — the most comprehensive in its history.
Iran’s ambassador to the United Nations told the UN Security Council late Monday that President Trump’s repeated threats to use military force against the country were “not vague or misconceived.” Amir Saeed Iravani also reiterated his claim that US leaders had incited violence by “armed terrorist groups” backed by the US and Israel, but provided no evidence to support his claim.
Iranian state media has sought to blame foreign forces for the protests, saying the theocracy remains broadly unable to deal with the country’s economy, which is reeling from international sanctions, particularly over its nuclear program.
FILE – In this photo obtained by The Associated Press, Iranians participate in an anti-government protest in Tehran, Iran, Jan. 9, 2026. (UGC via AP)
On Tuesday, money exchange shops in Tehran offered the lowest rate on record for the rial against the dollar. The traders refused to speak publicly about the incident, and some were outraged by the situation.
already, Iran has significantly restricted the subsidized currency rate To reduce corruption. It is also providing benefits worth $7 a month to most people in the country to help cover rising costs. But just 10 years ago, Iranians watched the rial fall from 32,000 rials to $1, eating away at the value of their savings.
Some Iranian-backed militias signal a desire to fight
Iran projected its power across the Middle East through the Axis of Resistance, a network of proxy armed groups in Gaza, Lebanon, Yemen, Syria, Iraq and elsewhere. It was also seen as a defense buffer aimed at keeping the conflict away from Iran’s borders. But it collapsed After Israel targeted Hamas, Lebanon’s Hezbollah, and others during the Gaza war. Meanwhile, rebels overthrew Syrian President Bashar al-Assad in 2024 after a year of bloody war in which Iran backed his rule.
Yemen’s Iran-backed Houthi rebels have repeatedly warned that they could resume shelling if necessary during the Red Sea transit, and on Monday released old footage of previous attacks. Ahmad “Abu Hussein” al-Hamidawi, leader of the Iraqi militia Kataib Hezbollah, warned the enemy that “the war against the (Islamic) Republic is not a picnic, but rather you will suffer the most bitter form of death and there will be nothing of you left in our region.”
Lebanese militant group Hezbollah, one of Iran’s staunchest allies, declined to say how it plans to respond to a possible attack.
“During the past two months, several parties have asked me clear and frank questions: If Israel and the United States go to war with Iran, will Hezbollah intervene or not?” Hezbollah leader Sheikh Naim Qassem said in a video address.
He said the group was “prepared for a possible invasion and determined to defend against it.” But as for how it will act, “these details will be determined by the battle and we will decide according to the interests that exist,” he said.
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Associated Press writers Edith Lederer at the United Nations and Abby Sewell in Beirut contributed to this report.