Armenia's High Commissioner for Diaspora Affairs Zare Sinanian said authorities have had no information about ethnic Armenians living in Iran since January 9 and cannot establish contact with them, raising serious concerns, 1lurer.am reported on January 12.

Iran has maintained a near-total internet blackout since January 8, cutting off international communications and severely limiting independent verification of events.

The government also restricted mobile-to-mobile text messaging and phone calls at night, as well as scrambling Elon Musk's Starlink internet. 

"Since Friday, we have had no information; now we cannot establish contact with our compatriots in Iran, and this worries us very much. We will continue efforts to restore communication," Sinanian said.

He said when a similar situation occurred during the 12-day war between Israel and Iran, Armenia gathered information at the Meghri border crossing from compatriots crossing into the country.

"We will probably have to start doing the same today there [in Meghri], otherwise, naturally, the information vacuum worries us very much. We do not have enough information to talk about evacuation," he said.

"As soon as we see that we have appropriate information about our compatriots in Iran that will allow us to make such a call, we will of course do so in the government. But now we are very concerned because everything escalated from Friday," he said, noting that January 9 saw the first phase of the most severe clashes, though protests have been ongoing for 12 to 13 days.

Responding to questions about sending a professional group to Iran, Sinanian said this was not realistic.

He said it is first necessary to find out what is happening in two cities with large Armenian communities, gather information and then take steps.

Iran maintains an ethnic Armenian population estimated at between 100,000 and 150,000, with significant communities in Tehran and Isfahan.

Human rights organisations have documented at least 500 deaths through January 12, though US and Israeli officials suggest the actual toll is significantly higher, with several reports suggesting deaths as high as 4,000 from recent clashes with authorities.