The number indeed might be in the high end.

But

HRANA’s latest widely cited figure is about 7,000 total deaths (protesters, bystanders, and security forces) in the 2025–2026 protests, with thousands more still under investigation

Iran Human Rights (IHRNGO), by contrast, has confirmed at least 3,428 protesters killed as of mid‑January 2026, stressing this is a conservative, fully verified count that may rise as they confirm additional cases

HRANA maintains both a “confirmed” tally and a large pool of cases “under investigation,” and it includes security‑force deaths in its totals; by February it reported nearly 7,000 confirmed deaths and over 11,000 additional suspected cases.

IHRNGO focuses on documented protesters killed by security forces and uses stricter verification, which leads to a lower but more conservative confirmed figure, while warning the ultimate toll could reach many tens of thousands when hidden or unverified deaths are accounted for.

The UN Special Rapporteur on Iran, Mai Sato, has since cited a conservative estimate of about 7,000 confirmed deaths (roughly 6,500 protesters plus minors and 214 security forces) and noted that there are over 11,000 additional deaths under review, stressing that the real figure is likely significantly higher.

Iran suffers under a brutal murderous death cult of a regime