Iranian state television, in a broadcast on Tuesday, offered the first official acknowledgment of deaths in protests across the country, quoting an official saying there was "a high number of martyrs" and that it did not release a toll earlier because of the dead suffering gruesome injuries.

Video shows anti-Iranian regime protesters swarming U-Haul that drove through Los Angeles demonstration, smashing windshield before police detain driver.

As the Iranian authorities impose a near-total communication blackout on a country convulsed by mass protests, videos and witness accounts slowly emerging suggest that the government is waging one of its deadliest crackdowns on unrest in more than a decade.

The death toll from nationwide protests in Iran surpassed 2,000 people on Tuesday, activists said, as Iranians made phone calls abroad for the first time in days after authorities severed communications during a crackdown on demonstrators.

An Iranian protester in Los Angeles criticized Democrats for their silence on the Iran protests.

"It Was Just an Accident" is an Iranian movie confronting tyranny and corruption. Now, director Jafar Panahi is facing jailtime for speaking out.