CBS News cited Iranian sources saying up to 20,000 may have been killed, though only some 2,500 have been confirmed by the U.S.-based Human Rights Activists News Agency. Israel and Arab states have reportedly advised Washington that the regime is not weakened enough for a military strike to be decisive.

Jan. 14, 2026 / JNS)

More than 12,000 people are feared dead in Iran after a sweeping crackdown on anti-regime protests, with CBS News reporting on Tuesday that sources inside and outside the country believe the toll could be as high as 20,000 and newly verified video showing hundreds of bodies stacked at a morgue near Tehran.

The outlet said the true scope of the bloodshed has been obscured by a near-total shutdown of internet and phone service imposed by Iran’s rulers over the past five days, with only limited outgoing calls allowing word of the killings to leak out. 

Activist networks citing medical sources around the country told the network they now believe the death toll stands at a minimum of 12,000 and could reach 20,000, even as an unnamed Iranian official told Reuterssome 2,000 people had been killed since the unrest erupted Dec. 28.

The U.S.-based Human Rights Activists News Agency said on Tuesday that it has confirmed 2,403 protester deaths, and that 18,434 people have been detained. HRANA also said that 1,134 people with severe injuries have been reported. jns.org

Serious conditions in Iran. I don’t envy President Trump and the administration, but what the sane world has hoped for may be about to come to fruition. What happens next? IMO strikes must happen soon to stop the carnage. Rh