(NewsNation) — Journalist Tara Kangarlou tells NewsNation her source inside Iran described current events there as a “massacre.”
Activists tell the Associated Press that more than 2,000 protesters have been killed, while more than 10,600 people have been detained during the two weeks of unrest, according to the U.S.-based Human Rights Activists News Agency.
Kangarlou, author of “The Heartbeat of Iran,” detailed the reality her Iranian source described as the Islamic Republic looks to quash the uprising.
“She said that, ‘In our neighborhood, I’m seeing snipers, and this is unprecedented. I’ve never seen this before,’” Kangarlou said of her source.
“She said some hospitals are charging an upward of 700 million toman at a time when the average monthly salary is 30 million toman, to release the bodies of the dead to the family members,” Kangarlou added.
Iran, responding to speculation that the U.S. might intervene, says it remains open to diplomacy but is “prepared for war.”
Trump says Tehran has reached out to negotiate a possible nuclear deal. A source with the administration told NewsNation the president has a range of options as he weighs a final decision.
White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said Iran’s public rhetoric diverges from the private messaging the administration has received from Tehran in recent days.
Amid the unrest, the Trump administration urged U.S. citizens to leave Iran immediately.
The U.S. Virtual Embassy Iran warned Americans living in the country to “expect continued internet outages, plan alternative means of communication, and, if safe to do so, consider departing Iran by land to Armenia or Türkiye.”
Iran has threatened to target U.S. military bases and ships in the region if the United States responds with force. Military data show more than 30,000 U.S. service members are stationed within range of Iran’s short-range missiles, with an additional 9,000 potentially within reach of its medium-range ballistic missiles.
“The brutal crackdowns have, in the last 24 hours, reduced the number of protesters. We are not seeing as many videos that as we’ve been seeing over the weekend,” Kangarlou said.
NewsNation’s Tom Dempsey contributed to this report.
