Iran says 400 dead—rights group claims over 950 killed, around 3,500 wounded in Israeli strikes

As per a Washington-based human rights group, Iran's death toll may be far higher than Iran admits. The group ‘Human Rights Activists’ claims that at least 950 people have been killed across Iran as a result of Israel's recent wave of airstrikes — a staggering figure that sharply contrasts Tehran's official count. The group, Human Rights Activists, cross-checks local reports in the Islamic Republic against a network of sources inside the country. The group previously provided casualty figures during the 2022 protests in the aftermath of the death of Mahsa Amini.

What is the toll as per Human Rights Activists?

The group ‘Human Rights Activists’ says that at least 950 people have died across Iran due to Israeli airstrikes. Of the dead, it says it has identified 380 as civilians and 253 to be members of Iran's security forces. Additionally, 3,450 others have been wounded in the ongoing onslaught, said the group.

Previously, on Thursday (Jun 19), the group said that 657 people have been killed across Iran, and at least 2,037 have been wounded. Among them, it said it identified 263 civilians and 164 security force personnel.

Watch | IAEA chief says underground damage at Fordow unknown at UN Security Council emergency meeting

What is the death toll according to Iran?

The Iranian government, however, continues to downplay the scale of the damage. On Saturday (Jun 21), the country's Health Ministry admitted to just 400 dead and over 3,000 injured, without offering further breakdowns or regular updates.

Tehran is yet to share a death toll, if any, from the US strikes on its nuclear bases. In an address to the nation following the bombings, Trump said "A short time ago the US military carried out massive precision strikes on the three key nuclear facilities in the Iranian regime: Fordo, Natanz and Isfahan," adding that everyone heard those names for years as Iran built what Trump referred to as a "horribly destructive enterprise."

Calling the strikes a 'spectacular military success, ' Trump said that “Iran's key nuclear enrichment facilities have been completely and totally obliterated.”

Labelling Tehran the world's number one state sponsor of terror, Trump said that the US's objective with these strikes was the "destruction of Iran's nuclear enrichment capacity and a stop to the nuclear threat" posed by the nation.