Iran summons ambassadors to demand withdrawal of support for protests as death toll climbs

Iran summoned diplomats in Tehran representing France, Germany, Italy and the UK on Monday to object to what it described as support by those countries for the protests that have shaken the Islamic republic, its foreign ministry said.

The diplomats were shown a video of the damage caused by "rioters" and told their governments should "withdraw official statements supporting the protesters," the ministry said in a statement quoted by state television.

The wave of condemnation from Western governments comes after the Norway-based Iran Human Rights (IHR) said on Monday that at least 648 protesters have been killed in the crackdown by Iranian security forces on the protest movement.

The group has warned that the actual toll could be far higher.

"The international community has a duty to protect civilian protesters against mass killing by the Islamic republic," said IHR director Mahmood Amiry-Moghaddam, commenting on the new tally of deaths that have been verified by the NGO.

IHR said that "according to some estimates more than 6,000 may have been killed", but warned that the almost four-day internet blackout imposed by the Iranian authorities makes it "extremely difficult to independently verify these reports."

Western condemnation

French President Emmanuel Macron denounced what he called "state violence" targeting Iranian protesters.

"I condemn the state violence that indiscriminately targets Iranian women and men who courageously demand respect for their rights," Macron wrote on X.

"Respect for fundamental freedoms is a universal requirement, and we stand alongside those who defend them."

German Chancellor Friedrich Merz said that Iran's use of "disproportionate and brutal violence" against protesters was "a sign of weakness".

"We condemn this violence in the strongest possible terms," Merz said during a visit to India. "This violence is not an expression of strength, but rather a sign of weakness."

In Berlin, a foreign ministry spokesperson said Germany continues to push for Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps to be "listed under the EU's anti-terror sanctions regime".

He said Berlin is "working within the EU to achieve consensus" on imposing the sanctions on the IRGC, the ideological arm of Iran's military.

While Britain's Foreign Secretary Yvette Cooper called for an end to the Iranian authorities' violent crackdown.

"The killing & brutal repression of peaceful protesters in Iran is horrific," Cooper said in a post on X.

"I have spoken to (Iranian) Foreign Minister (Abbas) Aragchi and told him directly: the Iranian government must immediately end the violence, uphold fundamental rights and freedoms, and ensure British nationals are safe."

The EU said in a statement that it is "looking into" imposing additional sanctions on Iran over the repression of protests.

"We stand ready to propose new, more severe sanctions following the violent crackdown on protesters," EU spokesperson Anouar El Anouni said.

Currency collapse

The protests originated with a shutdown of the Tehran bazaar on 28 December against the ailing economy after the rial currency plunged to record lows.

They soon spread outside the capital to other parts of the country with protesters demanding regime change, in one of the most serious challenges to the country’s theocracy since the 1979 Islamic Revolution.

Some protesters chanted "Death to the dictator!" and "Death to the Islamic Republic!" while others burned pictures of Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.

Internet access and telephone lines were cut almost immediately after the protests began with the net firm CloudFlare and advocacy group NetBlocks reporting the outage which both attributed to Iranian government interference.

Reclaiming the narrative

Seeking to regain the initiative, the government called for nationwide rallies backing the Islamic republic on Monday.

Thousands filled the capital's Enghelab (Revolution) Square brandishing the national flag as prayers were read for victims of what the government has termed "riots," state TV showed.

Iran's supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei praised pro-government rallies, saying the turnout was a "warning" to the United States.

"This was a warning to American politicians to stop their deceit and not rely on treacherous mercenaries," he said, according to Iranian state TV, after US President Donald Trump repeatedly threatened to intervene militarily if Tehran killed protesters.

"These massive rallies, full of determination, have thwarted the plan of foreign enemies that were supposed to be carried out by domestic mercenaries," he said.

Iran's parliament speaker described the response to a protest wave that has gripped the country as a "war against terrorists", as he addressed a rally in Tehran.

Iran is fighting a "four-front war", Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf said, listing economic war, psychological war, "military war" with the United States and Israel and "today a war against terrorists".

"The great Iranian nation has never allowed the enemy to achieve its goals," he said, flanked by the slogans "Death to Israel, Death to America" in Persian, and vowing the Iranian military would teach US President Donald Trump "an unforgettable lesson" in case of a new attack.