Iran Death Toll May Have Passed 30,000 as Khamenei Goes Underground

As Iran enters the new week, a report alleging a massive surge in protest-related deaths has emerged alongside claims that Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei has gone into hiding due to growing fears of a possible American strike.

According to a report published by TIME magazine, senior sources inside Iran’s Ministry of Health say an internal government tally indicates that as many as 30,000 people may have been killed on January 8 and 9 alone during nationwide protests. The figure, if accurate, would far exceed the official death toll announced by Iranian authorities.

The reported internal tally sharply contrasts with the most recent figure of 3,117 deaths announced on January 21 by Iranian authorities and state media aligned with Khamenei. The TIME report cited two unnamed senior Health Ministry officials who said the scale of the killings by Iranian security services during those two days overwhelmed state systems. According to their accounts, supplies of body bags were exhausted and eighteen-wheel semi-trailers were used in place of ambulances to transport bodies.

TIME said it was unable to independently verify the figures. The officials described the internal count as previously undisclosed and said it reflected only part of the broader unrest, identifying January 8 and 9 as particularly deadly days in what they described as killings that took place “in the streets of Iran.”

Independent activists documenting fatalities by name have reported significantly lower figures, though still far above the official toll. The U.S.-based Human Rights Activists News Agency said as of Saturday that it had confirmed 5,459 deaths and was investigating an additional 17,031 cases.

The report comes alongside growing signs of alarm within Iran’s leadership. Iran International, an opposition-affiliated news outlet, reported that Khamenei has relocated to a fortified underground bunker in Tehran containing interconnected tunnels after senior security and military officials warned of an increased likelihood of a US strike. According to the report, Khamenei’s third son, Masoud, has assumed day-to-day management of the supreme leader’s office and is serving as the main channel of communication with Iran’s executive branches. 

The developments follow a sharp escalation in rhetoric and military signaling between Tehran and Washington. US President Donald Trump said Friday that American ships were “heading towards Iran,” adding that he hoped they would not need to be used. A US Navy official confirmed that the aircraft carrier USS Abraham Lincoln and several guided-missile destroyers are currently deployed in the Indian Ocean and are expected to arrive in the Middle East in the coming days.

Iranian officials have responded with repeated warnings that any attack would be treated as a full-scale war. A senior Iranian official told Reuters that Iran would respond “in the hardest way possible” to any strike. Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian said that an attack on Khamenei would amount to war against the Iranian nation, while Iran’s Revolutionary Guard commander warned that Iranian forces were “more ready than ever” to carry out the supreme leader’s orders. Iran’s Students News Agency reported that any attack on Khamenei would trigger a declaration of jihad.

The rising tensions have already begun to spill over into civilian life. Airlines have rerouted and canceled flights across parts of the Middle East amid security concerns, and European aviation authorities have issued warnings regarding flights over Iranian airspace. Inside Iran, ongoing internet blackouts have continued to limit the flow of information about the protests and the crackdown.

On Friday, the US Treasury Department announced new sanctions against Iran in response to its handling of the demonstrations. As the week begins, the true scale of the deaths remains unknown, while the confrontation between Tehran and Washington shows no sign of easing.