Reuters wire confirms NCRI’s statement dated December 15, 2019, that the number of protesters killed by the regime’s security and IRGC forces outnumbered 1500. NCRI’s statement was based on reports from the MEK network inside Iran.

On December 23, 2019, in a special report, the Reuters reported that “About 1,500 people were killed during less than two weeks of unrest that started on Nov. 15. The toll, provided to Reuters by three Iranian interior ministry officials, included at least 17 teenagers and about 400 women as well as some members of the security forces and police,”

“The figures provided to Reuters, said two of the Iranian officials who provided them, are based on information gathered from security forces, morgues, hospitals, and coroner’s offices.”

The Reuters reports that the Iranian regime’s Supreme Leader, Ali Khamenei had a direct role in the crackdown and he ordered the top security and government officials of the regime to do whatever it takes to stop the uprising.

“After days of protests across Iran last month, Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei appeared impatient. Gathering his top security and government officials together, he issued an order: Do whatever it takes to stop them,” reads the Reuter report adding:

“That order, confirmed by three sources close to the supreme leader’s inner circle and a fourth official, set in motion the bloodiest crackdown on protesters since the Islamic Revolution in 1979,”

“Khamenei met with senior officials, including security aides, President Hassan Rouhani and members of his cabinet,” and “At the meeting, described to Reuters by the three sources close to his inner circle, the 80-year-old leader, who has final say over all state matters in the country, raised his voice and expressed criticism of the handling of the unrest. He was also angered by the burning of his image and the destruction of a statue of the republic’s late founder, Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini,”

“The Islamic Republic is in danger. Do whatever it takes to end it. You have my order,” the supreme leader told the group, according to one of the Reuters’ sources.

The figures in Reuter’s report match the numbers already provided by Iran’s main opposition group the People’s Mojahedin Organizations of Iran (PMOI/MEK). According to the MEK so far over 1500 have been killed. The MEK also has identified 547 martyrs of Iran protests.

On December 19, 2019, the Secretariat of the National Council of Resistance of Iran (NCRI) issued a statement in this regard.

“The People’s Mojahedin Organization of Iran (PMOI/MEK) released the names of 27 more martyrs of the nationwide uprising in November, bringing to 547 the number of victims identified so far. The MEK has confirmed more than 1,500 martyrs in different provinces across the country, among them many women and minors.” Reads the NCRI statement adding:

“Mrs. Maryam Rajavi, the President-elect of the National Council of Resistance of Iran (NCRI), emphasized that the world community’s silence and inaction have emboldened the religious fascism ruling Iran to continue and intensify its anti-human crimes against the Iranian people. The time has come to end impunity for those responsible for these atrocities. The regime’s supreme leader Ali Khamenei, its president Hassan Rouhani, and other leaders, who have been perpetrating crimes against humanity, must face justice, Mrs. Rajavi said. She called on the United Nations to form a fact-finding mission to investigate this major crime and visit the prisons and the prisoners in Iran.”