At least 16 people have been killed during a week of unrest in Iran, rights groups said on Sunday, as protests over soaring inflation spread across the country, sparking violent clashes between demonstrators and security forces, Reuters reported.

Deaths and arrests have been reported through the week both by state media and rights groups, though the figures differ. Reuters has not been able to independently verify the numbers.

The protests are the biggest in three years. Senior figures have struck a softer tone than in some previous bouts of unrest, at a moment of vulnerability for the Islamic Republic with the economy in tatters and international pressure building.

President Masoud Pezeshkian told the Interior Ministry to take a “kind and responsible” approach toward protesters, according to remarks published by state media, saying “society cannot be convinced or calmed by forceful approaches”.

That language is the most conciliatory yet adopted by Iranian authorities, who have this week acknowledged economic pain and promised dialogue even as security forces cracked down on public dissent in the streets.

U.S. President Donald Trump has threatened to come to the protesters’ aid if they face violence, saying on Friday “we are locked and loaded and ready to go”, without specifying what actions he was considering.

That warning prompted threats of retaliation against U.S. forces in the region from senior Iranian officials. Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei said Iran “will not yield to the enemy”.

Kurdish rights group Hengaw reported that at least 17 people had been killed since the start of the protests. HRANA, a network of rights activists, said at least 16 people had been killed and 582 arrested.

Iran’s police chief Ahmad-Reza Radan told state media that security forces had been targeting protest leaders for arrest over the previous two days, saying “a big number of leaders on the virtual space have been detained”.

Police said 40 people had been arrested in the capital Tehran alone over what they called “fake posts” on protests aimed at disturbing public opinion, read the report.

The most intense clashes have been reported in western parts of Iran but there have also been protests and clashes between demonstrators and police in Tehran, in central areas, and in the southern Baluchistan province.

Late on Saturday, the governor of Qom, the conservative centre of Iran’s Shi’ite Muslim clerical establishment, said two people had been killed there in unrest, adding that one of them had died when an explosive device he made blew up prematurely.

HRANA and the state-affiliated Tasnim news agency reported that authorities had detained the administrator of online accounts urging protests.

Protests began a week ago among bazaar traders and shopkeepers before spreading to university students and then provincial cities, where some protesters have been chanting against Iran’s clerical rulers.

Iran has faced inflation above 36% since the start of its year in March and the rial currency has lost around half its value against the dollar, causing hardship for many people.

International sanctions over Iran’s nuclear programme have been reimposed, the government has struggled to provide water and electricity across the country through the year, and global financial bodies predict a recession in 2026, Reuters reported.

Khamenei said on Saturday that although authorities would talk to protesters, “rioters should be put in their place”.

Speaking on Sunday, Vice President Mohammadreza Aref said the government acknowledged the country faced shortcomings while warning that some people were seeking to exploit the protests.

“We expect the youth not to fall into the trap of the enemies,” Aref said in comments carried by state media.

The supreme leader of the Islamic Republic of Iran, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, reportedly has an “escape plan” that involves fleeing to Russia if the current nationwide protests continue to intensify, British newspaper “The Times” reported on Sunday.

The plan, called “Plan B” by the British report, would include 86-year-old Khamenei and 20 close people, including family and aides.

It will also involve a way of taking his vast asset network, which, according to a 2013 Reuters investigation cited by The Times, is valued at about $95 billion, and includes the Setad organization, one of the most powerful organizations in Iran, and the Ayatollah’s system of semi-state charitable foundations known for their financial obfuscation.

“The ‘plan B’ is for Khamenei and his very close circle of associates and family, including his son and nominated heir apparent, Mojtaba,” The Times said, citing intelligence sources.

The report also mentioned that, according to former Israeli intelligence official Beni Sabti, Khamenei would leave for Russia as “there is no other place for him.”

Khamenei had previously assured that he “admires Putin, while the Iranian culture is more similar to the Russian culture,” the report noted.

The plan disclosed by The Times seems to be similar to the one used by former Syrian Dictator Bashar al-Assad, who escaped from Syria towards Moscow when the regime fell in November 2024.

Assad is now living in Russian luxury and “brushing up on ophthalmology,” The Guardian reported on December 19, citing sources close to the family.

A friend of the Assad family told The Guardian that “he is studying Russian and brushing up on his ophthalmology again. It’s a passion of his; he obviously doesn’t need the money,” suggesting his target clientele would be Moscow’s wealthy elite.

As protests continue to spread in Iran, the Trump Administration continues with its “maximum pressure” campaign over the Islamic Republic.

The message by US President Donald Trump about the possibility of dealing with the Iranian regime in a similar way to what he did on Saturday with former Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro seemed to influence the protests.

On Sunday, the Farsi account of the US State Department published a picture of President Trump and the message: “President Trump is a man of action. If you didn’t know, now you know.”

Earlier on Sunday, the same post was made on the US State Department’s general account, featuring a picture of Trump alongside US Secretary of State Marco Rubio and US Special Envoy Steve Witkoff.

Trump also told reporters on Sunday aboard Air Force One that “if they kill people, as they have done in the past, they will be hit hard by the United States.”

A Pakistani anti-terrorism court sentenced eight journalists and social media commentators on Friday to life imprisonment in absentia after convicting them of terrorism-related offences linked to online activity in support of jailed former prime minister Imran Khan.

The convictions stem from cases registered after violent protests on May 9, 2023, when Khan’s supporters attacked military installations following his brief arrest. Since then, the government and military have launched a sweeping crackdown on Khan’s party and dissenting voices, using anti-terrorism laws and military trials to prosecute hundreds accused of incitement and attacks on state institutions, Reuters reported.

In its ruling, the court said actions by the accused “fell within the ambit of terrorism” under Pakistani law and that their online material promoted “fear and unrest” in society.

Most of those convicted are believed to be outside Pakistan and did not appear during the proceedings, court documents showed.

The convicted include former army officers-turned YouTubers Adil Raja and Syed Akbar Hussain, journalists Wajahat Saeed Khan, Sabir Shakir and Shaheen Sehbai, commentator Haider Raza Mehdi, and analyst Moeed Pirzada, according to the court’s decision.

Saeed Khan, who lives in New York, said in a statement that he was “never served a summons, never notified of any proceedings, never contacted by the court.”

“This ruling is not justice. It is political theater, conducted without due process, jurisdiction, or credibility.”

Reuters was unable to reach the other journalists, commentators or their lawyers for comment.

The Committee to Protect Journalists said in 2023 that the investigations amounted to retaliation against critical reporting. “Authorities must immediately drop these investigations and cease the relentless intimidation and censorship of the media,” CPJ Asia programme coordinator Beh Lih Yi said.

The court handed down life sentences along with additional prison terms and fines, ordering further jail time if the fines are not paid. All sentences are subject to confirmation by the Islamabad High Court.