The US urged its citizens to leave Iran immediately, and advised them to consider departing by land to Turkey or Armenia, according to a notice released on Tuesday by the US virtual embassy in Tehran.
"US citizens should leave Iran now. Consider departing Iran by land to Turkiye or Armenia, if safe to do so," the notice said.
Iran is currently seeing its biggest anti-government demonstrations in years as the administration of President Donald Trump weighs how to respond to the situation in the Middle Eastern nation.
The advice comes in the moment of a death rate increase in Iranian protests, as the events have already left around 12,000 dead. The rate grew largely over the course of Thursday and Friday nights, Iran International reported on Tuesday, describing the events as “the largest killing in Iran’s contemporary history.”
One source within Iran told CBS that the death toll could be as high as 20,000 people.
UN human rights chief Volker Türk said on Tuesday that he was “horrified” by mounting violence by Iran’s security forces against peaceful protesters.
“This cycle of horrific violence cannot continue. The Iranian people and their demands for fairness, equality, and justice must be heard,” Türk, the UN high commissioner for human rights, said in a statement read out by UN Human Rights Office spokesperson Jeremy Laurence.
Asked to comment on the scale of the killings, Laurence, citing the United Nations’ own sources in Iran, said, “The number that we’re hearing is hundreds.”
IRGC blocks cities, sets up checkpoints across western Iran, sources tell the Post
Meanwhile, sources have told The Jerusalem Post that in the western Iranian provinces of West Azerbaijan, Kurdistan, Kermanshah, and Ilam, entrances to many cities have been blocked, and numerous checkpoints have been set up.
According to the sources, Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps security forces are stopping vehicles, searching them, and, in some cases, forcing citizens to unlock their mobile phones.
With the complete shutdown of the internet and telephone services, the only means of accessing news and information for many Iranians is currently satellite television, which is subject to heavy jamming in most cities. There have also been reports of security officials house-checking in cities such as Tehran and confiscating civilians’ satellite dishes.
Alex Winston and Fraidy Moser contributed to this report.