At least 304 people were killed and thousands more injured during a three-day crackdown on nationwide protests in Iran in mid-November, Amnesty International said Monday.
The London-based rights group had previously estimated 208 deaths, while the US special representative to Iran said that up to 1,000 people may have been killed. Iranian officials have not released official death figures.
Amnesty said it had collected "harrowing testimony" and analyzed videos revealing how Basij militia and Revolutionary Guard members killed hundreds of protesters between November 15 and 18.
"The majority of the deaths that the organization has recorded occurred as a result of gunshots to the head, heart, neck and other vital organs indicating that the security forces were shooting to kill," it said.
Authorities then went on to implement a "wide-scale clampdown designed to instill fear and prevent anyone from speaking out about what happened."
"Iran's authorities are carrying out a vicious crackdown following the outbreak of nationwide protests on 15 November, arresting thousands of protesters as well as journalists, human rights defenders and students to stop them from speaking out about Iran's ruthless repression," Amnesty said.
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