Overseas monitors struggle to track Iran’s war casualty figures
With official updates frozen since March 8, human rights groups say true casualty figures in Iran are unknown
Iran has not updated its official death toll figures for weeks, while human rights groups outside the country are struggling with chronic communication problems, meaning the number of people killed during the war remains largely unknown.
The last time Iran’s health ministry gave a full update about casualties was on March 8, the ninth day of the conflict, when it said around 1,200 civilians had been killed in US and Israeli air strikes across the country.
Overseas human rights groups have long been considered one of the most reliable sources of information about life inside the heavily censored Islamic Republic.
But with Iran’s connections to the global internet cut off and phone lines down, they are struggling to reach their networks of contacts who are their eyes and ears on the ground.
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Civilian deaths in Iran believed to be more than 1,400: rights agency
The US-based Human Rights Activists News Agency (HRANA), which played an important role corroborating deaths during anti-government protests in January, estimates the civilian death toll at 1,407 people, including 214 children.