Tehran, Iran – Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei admits “several thousand” Ten Iranians have been killed since protests by shopkeepers in central Tehran began in late December, gradually spreading to cities large and small.

The confirmation is unusual because Khamenei has generally avoided commenting on the death toll in Iran’s protests over the years.

But there are stark contrasting accounts from the Iranian government, foreign opponents and U.S. President Donald Trump about exactly what happened during the unrest and what might happen next.

What do we know for sure?

Protests resume economic dissatisfaction Protests that broke out on December 28 in the capital’s business and trade district grew in the following days into a nationwide expression of anger and frustration against the political establishment.

The nights of January 8 and January 9 were by far the deadliest, according to state officials and media, as well as foreign media and witnesses at the scene.

Abbas Masjedi Arani, the head of Iran’s forensic agency, told state media that many of the casualties were shot in the chest or head from close range or from rooftops with the intention of inflicting fatal injuries, while some were stabbed to death.

State media said most of the protesters were young Iranians, many in their 20s.

The Iranian authorities completely cut off communications and mobile communications on the evening of January 8, making it impossible to even call rescue services in an emergency.

The unprecedented internet blockade began to taper off on Sunday after nearly two weeks, but most of the country’s 90 million people The population remains in a state of instability in uncertainty about the future.

Local calls, text messages and international calls have been restored in recent days. A local intranet is operational with some limited services.

Street protests have now largely subsided, with thousands of heavily armed security forces setting up patrols and checkpoints across the country, particularly in Flashpoints like Tehran’s Grand Bazaar.

During the digital lockdown, few videos of protests outside Iran were circulated, and only a handful of Iranians were able to leave the country or connect to the Starlink satellite internet that bypasses government internet restrictions.

What does the country say?

Iranian officials, from political to military and judicial leaders, stress every day that the United States and Israel have been behind the protests, accusing foreign powers of arming and financing the opposition.

Iran’s 86-year-old Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei said that Trump has been directly involved in riots many times and is a “criminal.”

Iran’s government says armed and well-trained “terrorists”, not the country’s military, are directly responsible for the killing of thousands of people during protests. They claim that people acting on behalf of the United States Israel Shooting and stabbing people, disrupting peaceful demonstrations.

Judicial officials stressed that those involved in the “riots” would face swift punishment without mercy. The Supreme Court and the Attorney General’s Office announced on Sunday that they had formed a joint working group to expedite cases related to the protests.

What are the foreign surveillance personnel saying?

Foreign observers and Iranians opposed to the Iranian establishment abroad maintain that the country’s military has killed protesters in large numbers.

The latest and most widely cited data Human Rights Activist News Agency (HRANA)The US-based organization said more than 3,300 people have been confirmed dead and more than 4,300 more are under investigation.

The group also said 2,107 people had been seriously injured and more than 24,000 arrested.

Reuters quoted an unnamed Iranian official in the region as saying on Sunday that at least 5,000 people had been killed, including about 500 security personnel. Most of the deaths were reported in the Kurdish-majority areas of northwestern Iran.

Al Jazeera could not independently verify the figures.

Foreign media have also reported that Iranian authorities are demanding so-called “bullet money” from the families of protesters killed by security forces in order to bury them, or asking family members to sign documents indicating that they are members of the Basij military unit of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) and not protesters. Iranian officials denied both claims.

What are the United States and Israel talking about?

In recent months, including during the 12-day war in June, U.S. and Israeli officials have publicly promoted the possibility of overthrowing Tehran’s theocratic leadership.

At the height of the protests, Trump urged Iranians to stay on the streets, claiming “help is coming,” and then expressed “tremendous respect” for Iran’s leaders and claimed he planned to halt the execution of more than 800 political prisoners.

Responding to the claims, Tehran prosecutor Ali Salehi said on Saturday that the US president “talked a lot of nonsense”, adding that “our response will be deterrent and swift”.

But Trump has not stopped speaking, calling on Saturday for an end to Khamenei’s 37-year rule and calling the Iranian leader a “sick man.”

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has not commented directly on the protests. Israeli public broadcaster Kan reported that Heritage Minister Amichai Eliyahu said last week that Israeli agents were active in Iran “now” as they were during the 12-day war, and Netanyahu ordered his officials to stop giving interviews on the subject.