DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP) — The death toll from a crackdown over Iran’s nationwide protests last month has reached at least 7,002 people killed with many more still feared dead, activists said Thursday.
The slow rise in the number of dead from the demonstrations adds to the overall tensions facing Iran both inside the country and abroad as it tries to negotiate with the United States over its nuclear program. A second round of talks remains up in the air as Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu pressed his case directly with U.S. President Donald Trump to intensify his demands on Tehran in the negotiations.
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In this photo released by the Oman's Foreign Ministry, Steve Witkoff, White House special envoy, center, shakes hands with Oman's Foreign Minister Sayyid Badr Albusaidi as Jared Kushner, left, looks on during their meeting prior to Iran and the U.S. negotiations, in Muscat, Oman, Friday, Feb. 6, 2026. (Oman Foreign Ministry via AP)
In this photo released by the Oman's Foreign Ministry, Steve Witkoff, White House special envoy, center, shakes hands with Oman's Foreign Minister Sayyid Badr Albusaidi as Jared Kushner, left, looks on during their meeting prior to Iran and the U.S. negotiations, in Muscat, Oman, Friday, Feb. 6, 2026. (Oman Foreign Ministry via AP)
In this photo released by Iran's Supreme National Security Council office, Secretary of the Supreme National Security Council Ali Larijani, center, arrives in Muscat, Oman, Tuesday, Feb. 10, 2026. (Erfan Kouchari/Iran's Supreme National Security Council Office via AP)
In this photo released by Iran's Supreme National Security Council office, Secretary of the Supreme National Security Council Ali Larijani, right, listens to Omani Foreign Minister Badr al-Busaidi during their meeting in Muscat, Oman, Tuesday, Feb. 10, 2026. (Erfan Kouchari/Iran's Supreme National Security Council Office via AP)
In this photo released on Monday, Feb. 9, 2026, by the official website of the office of the Iranian supreme leader, Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei addresses the nation in a televised speech. (Office of the Iranian Supreme Leader via AP)
“There was nothing definitive reached other than I insisted that negotiations with Iran continue to see whether or not a Deal can be consummated. If it can, I let the Prime Minister know that will be a preference,” Trump wrote afterward on his TruthSocial website.
“Last time Iran decided that they were better off not making a Deal, and they were hit. ... That did not work well for them. Hopefully this time they will be more reasonable and responsible.”
Meanwhile, Iran at home faces still-simmering anger over its wide-ranging suppression of all dissent in the Islamic Republic. That rage may intensify in the coming days as families of the dead begin marking the traditional 40-day mourning for the loved ones.
The U.S.-based Human Rights Activists News Agency, which offered the latest figures, has been accurate in counting deaths during previous rounds of unrest in Iran and relies on a network of activists in Iran to verify deaths. The slow rise in the death toll has come as the agency slowly is able to crosscheck information as communication remains difficult with those inside of the Islamic Republic.
Iran’s government offered its only death toll on Jan. 21, saying 3,117 people were killed. Iran’s theocracy in the past has undercounted or not reported fatalities from past unrest.
The Associated Press has been unable to independently assess the death toll, given authorities have disrupted internet access and international calls in Iran.
The rise in the death toll comes as Iran tries to negotiate with the United States over its nuclear program.
Senior Iranian security official Ali Larijani met Wednesday in Qatar with Foreign Minister Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al Thani. Qatar hosts a major U.S. military installation that Iran attacked in June, after the U.S. bombed Iranian nuclear sites during the 12-day Iran-Israel war in June. Larijani also met with officials of the Palestinian Hamas militant group, and in Oman with Tehran-backed Houthi rebels from Yemen on Tuesday.
Larijani told Qatar’s Al Jazeera satellite news network that Iran did not receive any specific proposal from the U.S. in Oman, but acknowledged that there was an “exchange of messages.”
Qatar has been a key negotiator in the past with Iran, with which it shares a massive offshore natural gas field in the Persian Gulf. Its state-run Qatar News Agency reported that ruling emir Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani spoke with Trump about “the current situation in the region and international efforts aimed at de-escalation and strengthening regional security and peace,” without elaborating.
The U.S. has moved the aircraft carrier USS Abraham Lincoln, ships and warplanes to the Middle East to pressure Iran into an agreement and have the firepower necessary to strike the Islamic Republic should Trump choose to do so.
Already, U.S. forces have shot down a drone they said got too close to the Lincoln and came to the aid of a U.S.-flagged ship that Iranian forces tried to stop in the Strait of Hormuz, the narrow mouth of the Persian Gulf.
Trump told the news website Axios that he was considering sending a second carrier to the region. “We have an armada that is heading there and another one might be going,” he said.
Associated Press writer Melanie Lidman in Washington contributed to this report.
In this photo released by the Oman's Foreign Ministry, Steve Witkoff, White House special envoy, center, shakes hands with Oman's Foreign Minister Sayyid Badr Albusaidi as Jared Kushner, left, looks on during their meeting prior to Iran and the U.S. negotiations, in Muscat, Oman, Friday, Feb. 6, 2026. (Oman Foreign Ministry via AP)
In this photo released by Iran's Supreme National Security Council office, Secretary of the Supreme National Security Council Ali Larijani, center, arrives in Muscat, Oman, Tuesday, Feb. 10, 2026. (Erfan Kouchari/Iran's Supreme National Security Council Office via AP)
In this photo released by Iran's Supreme National Security Council office, Secretary of the Supreme National Security Council Ali Larijani, right, listens to Omani Foreign Minister Badr al-Busaidi during their meeting in Muscat, Oman, Tuesday, Feb. 10, 2026. (Erfan Kouchari/Iran's Supreme National Security Council Office via AP)
In this photo released on Monday, Feb. 9, 2026, by the official website of the office of the Iranian supreme leader, Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei addresses the nation in a televised speech. (Office of the Iranian Supreme Leader via AP)
SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — Connor Haught has been juggling virtual work meetings and arts and crafts projects for his two daughters as his family tries to navigate a teachers strike in San Francisco with no end date in sight.
Haught’s job in the construction industry allows him to work from home but, like many parents in the city, he and his wife were scrambling to plan activities for their children amid the uncertainty of a strike that has left nearly 50,000 students out of the classroom.
“The big concern for parents is really the timeline of it all and trying to prepare for how long this could go on,” Haught said.
The San Francisco Unified School District’s 120 schools remained closed for a third day Wednesday, after about 6,000 public schoolteachers went on strike over higher wages, health benefits, and more resources for students with special needs.
Some parents are taking advantage of after-school programs offering full-day programming during the strike, while others are relying on relatives and each other for help with child care.
Haught said he and his wife, who works evenings at a restaurant, planned to have their 8- and 9-year-old daughters at home the first week of the strike. They hope to organize play dates and local excursions with other families. They have not yet figured out what they will do if the strike goes on a second week.
“We didn’t try to jump on all the camps and things right away because they can be pricey, and we may be a little more fortunate with our schedule than some of the other people that are being impacted,” Haught said.
The United Educators of San Francisco and the district have been negotiating for nearly a year, with teachers demanding fully funded family health care, salary raises and the filling of vacant positions impacting special education and services.
On Wednesday, hundreds of teachers gathered at San Francisco's Ocean Beach to form the word “strike” in large letters as the two sides continued to negotiate over wages and health care. Schools will remain closed for a fourth day Thursday, the district announced.
Teachers on the picket lines said they know the strike is hard on students but that they walked out to offer children stability in the future.
“This is for the betterment of our students. We believe our students deserve to learn safely in schools, and that means having fully staffed schools. That means retaining teachers by offering them competitive wage packages and health care, and it means to fully fund all of the programs we know the students need the most,” said Lily Perales, a history teacher at Mission High School.
Earlier Wednesday, Superintendent Maria Su urged both sides to act with urgency, saying the district had a counterproposal ready Tuesday night and was prepared to stay all night, but that union negotiators had left for the day.
“We have been ready to negotiate his entire time. We are prepared and committed to getting this agreement done today,” she said at a morning press conference.
The two sides have yet to agree on a wage increase and family health benefits. The union initially asked for a 9% raise over two years, which they said could help offset the cost of living in San Francisco, one of the most expensive cities in the country. The district, which faces a $100 million deficit and is under state oversight because of a long-standing financial crisis, rejected the idea. Officials countered with a 6% wage increase paid over three years.
On Tuesday, Sonia Sanabria took her 5-year-old daughter and 11-year-old nephew to a church in the Mission District neighborhood that offered free lunch to children out of school.
Sanabria, who works as a cook at a restaurant, said she stayed home from work to take care of the children.
“If the strike continues, I’ll have to ask my job for a leave of absence, but it will affect me because if I don’t work, I don’t earn,” Sanabria said.
She said her elderly mother helps with school drop off and pick up but leaving the children with her all day is not an option. Sanabria said she has given them reading and writing assignments and worked with them on math problems. Sanabria said she is making plans for the children day-by-day and expressed support for the striking teachers.
“They are asking for better wages and better health insurance, and I think they deserve that because they teach our children, they take care of them and are helping them to have a better future,” she said, adding, “I just hope they reach agreement soon.”
Cynthia Harb, foreground left, a physical education teacher at Marina Middle School, and her husband, Gus, middle, rally in support of the ongoing teachers strike at the San Francisco Unified School District with other teachers, students and supporters at Ocean Beach in San Francisco, Wednesday, Feb. 11, 2026. (AP Photo/Jeff Chiu)
Tylynn Lewis, teacher at Dr. Charles R. Drew Elementary School, middle, rallies in support of the ongoing teacher's strike at the San Francisco Unified School District with other teachers, students and supporters at Ocean Beach, in San Francisco, Wednesday, Feb. 11, 2026. (AP Photo/Jeff Chiu)
Knick Pires, middle, whose wife teaches at Presidio Middle School, rallies with others in support of the ongoing teachers strike at the San Francisco Unified School District on Ocean Beach in San Francisco, Wednesday, Feb. 11, 2026. (AP Photo/Jeff Chiu)
Teachers, students and supporters rally in support of the ongoing teachers strike at the San Francisco Unified School District at Ocean Beach in San Francisco, Wednesday, Feb. 11, 2026. (AP Photo/Jeff Chiu)
Teachers, students and supporters rally in support of the ongoing teachers strike at the San Francisco Unified School District at Ocean Beach in San Francisco, Wednesday, Feb. 11, 2026. (AP Photo/Jeff Chiu)
Hundreds of San Francisco teachers form a human banner spelling "STRIKE" on Ocean Beach on the third day of a district-wide strike over wages, benefits and other issues. (AP Photo/Terry Chea)
English and Physical Education teacher Alison White leads a chant as teachers and San Francisco Unified School District staff join a city-wide protest to demand a fair contract at Mission High School, Monday, Feb. 9, 2026, in San Francisco. (Brontë Wittpenn/San Francisco Chronicle via AP)
Teachers, students and supporters picket outside of Mission High School in San Francisco, Monday, Feb. 9, 2026. (AP Photo/Jeff Chiu)
Bret Harte Elementary Stacey Gonzalez TK teacher reads a United Educators of San Francisco newspaper as Bret Harte Elementary School teachers and Untied Educators of San Francisco members strike outside of Bret Harte Elementary School in San Francisco, Calif., Tuesday, Feb. 10, 2026. (Jessica Christian/San Francisco Chronicle via AP)
Bret Harte Elementary kindergarten to second grade teacher Kalina Francois pushes her daughter Inayah, 1, in a stroller while joining Bret Harte Elementary School teachers and Untied Educators of San Francisco members in a strike outside of Bret Harte Elementary School in San Francisco, Calif., Tuesday, Feb. 10, 2026. (Jessica Christian/San Francisco Chronicle via AP)
Teachers, students and supporters picket outside of Mission High School in San Francisco, Monday, Feb. 9, 2026. (AP Photo/Jeff Chiu)
