An Iranian official in the region said on Sunday the authorities had verified at least 5,000 people had been killed in protests in Iran, including about 500 security personnel, blaming “terrorists and armed rioters” for killing “innocent Iranians”.

The official, who declined to be named due to the sensitivity of the issue, also told Reuters some of the heaviest clashes and highest number of deaths were in the Iranian Kurdish areas in northwest Iran, a region where Kurdish separatists have been active and where flare-ups have been among the most violent in past periods of unrest.

“The final toll is not expected to increase sharply,” the official said, adding that “Israel and armed groups abroad” had supported and equipped those taking to the streets.

The Iranians authorities regularly blame unrest on foreign enemies, including Israel, an arch foe of the Islamic Republic which launched military strikes on Iran in June.

The U.S.-based HRANA rights group said on Saturday the death toll had reached 3,308, with another 4,382 cases under review. The group said it had confirmed more than 24,000 arrests.

The Iranian Kurdish rights group Hengaw, based in Norway, has said some of the heaviest clashes during protests that erupted in late December were in Kurdish areas in the northwest.

The Pakistan Army has issued a warning to residents of the Tirah Valley in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province to vacate their homes by January 25, as security forces prepare to launch a new military operation in the area, Pakistani media have reported. The announcement has triggered growing concerns over large-scale displacement and humanitarian challenges, particularly amid the harsh winter season.

According to the reports, residents have been given one week to leave the region ahead of the planned operation. Pakistan’s federal government has pledged financial assistance to affected families, stating that each household will receive 250,000 Pakistani rupees after biometric registration at centers set up by the provincial disaster management authority. Families will also be allowed to relocate to Peshawar or other tribal districts.

Officials said displaced families will receive a monthly allowance of 50,000 rupees until April. In addition, compensation of one million rupees has been promised for partially damaged homes, while families whose houses are completely destroyed during the operation would be paid three million rupees.

However, the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa provincial government, led by the opposition Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) party, has openly opposed the military operation. Chief Minister Sohail Afridi, who visited Tirah on Thursday, reiterated that military action is not a solution to the province’s security challenges.

“This forced displacement is the result of the so-called ‘closed-door policy,’ which is driven by political interests rather than genuine security concerns,” Afridi said. “After 22 major operations and nearly 14,000 smaller ones, peace has still not been achieved. What guarantee is there that this operation will bring security? Tirah is my home, and its people are my people.”

Meanwhile, thousands of families who have already fled or are preparing to leave their ancestral homes have expressed deep concern over their uncertain future. Residents say spending freezing winter nights without adequate shelter, healthcare, or access to education will create serious immediate and long-term hardships. Some have also complained of deliberate obstacles in the registration and aid distribution process.

Pakistan’s central government estimates that the operation could displace around 100,000 people.

Analysts note that a similar military operation in 2013 displaced nearly 11,000 families from Tirah, who were allowed to return about a year later. During that period, the army established extensive military installations in the area, yet lasting security was not achieved.

Some security experts are also examining the “closed-door” policy from another perspective, arguing that Tirah’s strategic location—bordering Afghanistan and rich in forests and mineral resources—makes it a sensitive area. They warn that instability could create conditions conducive to the movement or relocation of militant groups, including the Daesh.

The situation continues to draw attention as residents, political leaders, and humanitarian observers call for alternatives to military action and greater protection for civilians facing displacement.

The United States stands by the “brave people of Iran,” and President Donald Trump “has made it clear all options are on the table to stop the slaughter,” U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations Mike Waltz told the U.N. Security Council on Thursday.

Trump has repeatedly threatened to intervene in support of protesters in Iran, where thousands of people have been reported killed in a crackdown on the protests against clerical rule, Reuters reported.

But on Thursday, Trump adopted a wait‑and‑see posture, saying he had been told that the killings were easing and that he believed there was no current plan for large-scale executions.

“President Trump is a man of action, not endless talk like we see at the United Nations. He has made it clear all options are on the table to stop the slaughter,” Waltz told the Security Council meeting, which Washington had requested.

Waltz dismissed allegations by Iran that the protests are “a foreign plot to give a precursor to military action.”

“Everyone in the world needs to know that the regime is weaker than ever before, and therefore is putting forward this lie because of the power of the Iranian people in the streets. They are afraid. They’re afraid of their own people,” Waltz said.

Iran’s Deputy U.N. Ambassador Gholamhossein Darzi said Iran does not seek escalation or confrontation and accused Waltz of resorting “to lies, distortion of facts, and a deliberate misinformation campaign to conceal his country’s direct involvement in steering unrest in Iran to violence.”

“However, any act of aggression – direct or indirect – will be met with a decisive, proportionate, and lawful response,” he told the Security Council. “This is not a threat; it is a statement of legal reality.”

Russia’s U.N. Ambassador Vassily Nebenzia accused the United States of convening the Security Council in a bid to “justify blatant aggression and interference in the internal affairs of a sovereign state” and threats to “solve the Iranian problem in its favorite way: through strikes aimed at overthrowing an undesirable regime.”

“We strongly urge the hot heads in Washington and other capitals … to come to their senses,” he said.

United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres urges “maximum restraint at this sensitive moment and calls on all actors to refrain from any actions that could lead to further loss of life or ignite a wider regional escalation,” senior U.N. official Martha Pobee told the council.

“Loud and clear, again and again, we hear the Iranians lift their voices for a better life,” Denmark’s U.N. Ambassador Christina Markus Lassen told the Security Council. “For too long the leaders in Tehran have not heeded this call. The time has now come for the government of Iran to finally listen, to respond to the will of its people through peaceful means. We urge them to start today.”