Iran's nationwide Internet blackout remained largely in place as the reported death toll from recent protests continued to rise, with one account saying the number of fatalities may exceed 30,000.

The digital rights watchdog NetBlocks said on January 25 that Iran's Internet shutdown has now passed 400 hours, adding that "brief connectivity spikes" may give a false impression of wider restoration. It said circumvention tools such as VPNs have allowed limited online communication.

Human rights groups say the blackout has hampered protesters' ability to organize and restricted the flow of information, making independent verification of casualties difficult.

The US-based rights organization HRANA, whose figures RFE/RL has been regularly citing since the violent crackdown began in Iran earlier this month, says its confirmed death toll is now 5,459, and the number of fatalities still under investigation is 17,031.

However, a report published by Time magazine says the number of fatalities in the Iran protests may exceed 30,000, according to two senior Iranian health officials it spoke to.

The report, published on January 25, says the majority of deaths occurred during January 8-9, when the government's crackdown on nationwide protests reached its peak. Due to intense censorship and the prolonged Internet shutdown, reported death toll figures for the protests cannot be independently verified.

The toll reported by Time sharply contradicts the official death tollof 3,117 announced earlier this week by Iran's Supreme National Security Council, but aligns more closely with international estimates.

The United Nations has suggested significantly higher casualties, and Mai Sato, the UN special rapporteur on human rights in Iran, said on January 22 that the number of civilians killed could exceed 20,000 as reports from doctors continue to surface. Amnesty International has described the killings as occurring on an "unprecedented scale."

The Norway-based Iran Human Rights group, meanwhile, on January 25 said that Iranian security forces have been targeting doctors and volunteers who were helping injured protesters.

"Security forces are violently arresting doctors and volunteer citizens by raiding homes and clinics, and destroying their property," reported the group, which says it has members inside and outside off Iran.