Khaberni - The head of the judiciary in Iran, on Sunday, warned "the instigators of the protests" opposed to the government that they would face punishment "without the slightest leniency".
Mizan website reported that chief of the judiciary in Iran, Gholam Hossein Mohseni Ejei, said that "the people rightfully demand a trial of the accused and the main instigators of riots, terrorism, and violence as soon as possible and their punishment if their guilt is proven."
Ejei added, "the utmost strictness must be adopted in the investigations," affirming that "justice requires the trial and punishment—with no leniency—of criminals who carried weapons and killed people, or set fires or vandalized or committed massacres", as he described.
Losses in millions of dollars
Iranian experts estimated the financial losses due to the internet service disruption that started in Iran on January 8th, with direct losses to the country's economy estimated at about 20 million and 600 thousand dollars daily.
Ali Hakim Javadi, head of the Computer Engineers Organization and the IT sector union in Iran, said in a statement to the "Entekhab" news site, on Sunday, that the most affected sector from the internet shutdown is the digital companies and IT services providers sector.
He mentioned that these companies, which rely largely on continuous access to the global internet, have seen a sharp decline in their transactions, with some coming to a complete halt.
Hakim Javadi confirmed that the economic damages mentioned include only the direct losses, according to his statement.
Casualty count
On Wednesday, Iranian authorities announced the first official total death toll of the violence at 3117, the vast majority, 2427, were security forces or bystanders, not the protesters described as "rioters".
However, human rights organizations say that the vast majority of those killed were protesters, indicating that thousands of them have died, while the Iranian Human Rights organization based in Norway estimates the total death toll could exceed 25,000.
The "News Agency of Human Rights Activists" (HRANA) based in the United States, states that the number of detainees on the backdrop of the protests surpassed 26,000 people.
Time magazine estimated that the death toll due to the unrest that shook Iran for weeks could "exceed 30,000".
American threats
President Donald Trump has threatened military intervention if Iran began executing people accused of participating in the protests, but recently softened his stance after stating that Tehran had suspended hundreds of executions it had planned to carry out.
On Thursday, Trump told reporters during his return trip from Davos that a "huge American military fleet" is heading towards Iran "in anticipation of any emergency".
The United States launched strikes on Iranian nuclear facilities in June, amid a brief war that erupted between Israel and Iran, lasting 12 days.
Human rights organizations have repeatedly accused the Iranian authorities of using live ammunition against protesters, but the commander of the special units, Mehdi Sharif Kazemi, emphasized that the authorities exclusively used non-lethal means such as water cannons to contain the unrest.
The protests began on December 28th last year following deteriorating living conditions, and they quickly escalated to raise slogans against the authorities of the Islamic Republic established since 1979.
However, the protests were quickly quelled following a government crackdown carried out in the context of internet censorship, which largely isolated the country from the outside world.
