What do we know about the number of people killed in Iran protests? Estimates from human rights organisations and doctors range from over 5,000 at the conservative end to 33,000 by one count, and even as high as 50,000, according to one unverified claim. By Alicja Hagopian, data journalist Friday 30 January 2026 19:35, UK Why you can trust Sky News Thousands of people have been killed in Iran's deadly protests, but deaths are still being verified, with conflicting reports. Here's what we know.Estimates from human rights organisations and doctors, independent of the Iranian regime's official figures, range from over 5,000 at the conservative end to 33,000 by one count, and even as high as 50,000, according to one unverified claim. Iranian authorities imposed a near-total internet blackout, which has only partially lifted, from 8 to 27 January. As a result, it has been near-impossible to verify the true number of people who have been killed in the brutal crackdown.Nicholas Hopton, former UK ambassador to Iran from 2016 to 2018, told Sky News that Iranian authorities were limiting information on the number of people killed."It is becoming increasingly clear since the internet coverage has been partially restored in the last week, that many thousands, possibly tens of thousands of innocent people, were killed during the crackdown by the Islamic regime," he said. The Iranian Islamic Republic previously said 3,117 people have been killed, claiming the majority of these deaths were
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