Washington, DC., 13 January 2026——
Protests erupted in Tehran on 28 December 2025, following the collapse of Iran’s national currency (the rial had dropped to 1.24M rial to one US dollar), and amid soaring inflation, chronic state mismanagement of essential services, including access to water, and worsening living conditions. The regime increased gas prices, and inflation was at 40%. Iran is a nation in unrest. The Islamic Republic is a corrupt, sclerotic, ideological regime that has not delivered for its own people.
Initially, vendors went on strike in Tehran’s Grand Bazaar. Then some other merchants and shopkeepers joined in. As the protests grew, so did the reasons for people to participate. Then the demonstrations spread to the universities, evolving into a call for the end of the Islamic Republic regime and demanding human rights, dignity, and freedom. Protesters include a wide cross-section of society: workers, students, ethnic minorities, women, and ordinary citizens frustrated by long-standing economic, social, and political repression. The protests quickly spread to more than 200 cities and towns, and in all 31 of Iran’s provinces.
Criminalization of Protest and Threat of Severe Punishments
On 3 January 2026, the Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei ominously said the protesters must be “put in their place.” Later that day, the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) declared the period of “tolerance” was over. The Head of the Judiciary ordered prosecutors to show no leniency to protesters, organizers, and leaders, and to expedite their trials.
Iranian officials have escalated their rhetoric, labeling protests as a threat to the state and declaring demonstrators as “terrorists” and “enemies of God”, a charge that under Iranian law can carry the death penalty. This legal framing is being used to justify harsh punishments against protesters as well as those who support or assist them.
Use of Lethal Force and Arbitrary Detention
Iranian security forces, including the IRGC and Iran’s police force known as FARAJA, responded with brutal, lethal force against protesters. Violent dispersals ensued, including the use of live ammunition, shotguns loaded with metal pellets, rifles, water cannons, tear gas, and beatings to intimidate and punish peaceful protesters. IRGC authorities warn that hangings of detained protesters could begin soon.
Security forces have arbitrarily arrested tens of thousands of protesters, including children as young as 8. Many of those detained are held without due process, incommunicado, or at risk of torture, rape, and ill-treatment. There are documented cases of forced confessions broadcast on state television, raising serious concerns about coercion and abuse during detention. On 5 January, Tasnim News, affiliated with the IRGC, aired the confessions of an 18-year-old woman and a 16-year-old girl accused of leading riots.
Authorities have also conducted nightly raids on homes and abducted people from hospitals. Iranian state officials have repeatedly committed crimes under international law, including rape, torture, murder, and enforced disappearances.
People in Iran who dare to express their anger at decades of repression and demand fundamental change are once again being met with the deadly repression of security forces. The current scenes are reminiscent of the Woman, Life, Freedom uprisings of 2022, which erupted after the death of Jina Mahsa Amini, a 22-year-old woman arrested and killed by Iran’s morality police for violating mandatory hijab laws. Those protests were also marked by gross human rights violations and systemic impunity.
Online Blackouts and Information Suppression
On 8 January, the Iranian government imposed widespread internet and mobile communication shutdowns, effectively crippling the ability of protesters and journalists to document and share firsthand accounts with the outside world. It is a tool of repression designed to obscure state violence. This tactic is not only censorship but also a human rights violation in itself, undermining freedom of expression and access to information.
Reports indicate that at least 4,800 people have been killed, but the number is most likely much higher. Nearly 20,000 people have been arbitrarily detained.
Bearing Witness
TGR spoke with protesters, witnesses, medical personnel, and reviewed official statements. We analyzed dozens of videos online, as well as those shared with the organization. The review of video footage, photographs, and witness statements indicates security forces opened fire on protesters habitually. The use of force in ethnic minority regions showed particularly brutal responses.
At least six people were killed in Azna, Lorestan province, on 31 December 2025, when security forces opened fire on protesters. Verified videos show a group of protesters chanting and the sound of gunfire. The victims are Shayan Asadollahi, Reza Moradi, a 17-year-old auto body apprentice, Vahab Mousavi, Ahmadreza Amani, a law student and intern at the Yazd Bar Association, and a 15-year-old student, Mostafa Falahi. Security forces refused to release the body of 15-year-old Taha Safari. When his father arrived to claim his son’s body, the body was in such poor condition that DNA analysis was required for identification.
Witnesses in Malekshahi said hundreds of peaceful protesters marched from Shohada Square to an IRGC Basij base. IRGC forces opened fire on protesters, killing at least eleven and injuring dozens. The protesters were unarmed. Verified videos indicate protesters fleeing amid the sound of gunfire. The victims were motionless on the ground with visible injuries.
On 3 January, Reza Ghanbary and brothers, Rasoul and Reza Kadivarian, were fatally shot in Iafarabad, Karamanshah province. Witnesses said two plainclothes officers fired metal pellets at the group of protesters. On the same day, security forces killed Ahmad Jalil, Sayed Valamanesh, and Soroush Soleiman during protests in Lordegan. TGR viewed images of their bodies, revealing spray pattern wounds from metal pellets on their torsos.
On 4 January, the Special Forces of FARJA and IRGC attacked Imam Khomeini Hospital in Ilam, where injured protesters were being treated. Agents fired shotguns with metal pellets and tear gas into the hospital, smashed glass doors, and beat patients, their relatives, and medical personnel. The presence of security forces in hospitals has deterred many injured protesters from seeking medical care, increasing the risk of death.
Authorities have denied responsibility for the killings, consistent with patterns of state denial and silencing
International Human Rights Concerns
The United Nations Independent Fact-Finding Mission on Iran has expressed alarm at the escalating violence and urged authorities to end the crackdown, restore internet access, and respect fundamental rights, including freedom of assembly and expression. The mission has also emphasized the need for the unconditional release of all individuals detained for peaceful protest.
International human rights law, including provisions of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR), to which Iran is a party, protects rights such as freedom of peaceful assembly, expression, and access to information. The reported actions by Iranian authorities raise serious concerns about violations of these obligations.
TGR calls on prosecuting authorities in other countries to initiate criminal investigations under the principle of universal jurisdiction, and to issue arrest warrants for those suspected of responsibility. We call on UN member states and regional bodies to take urgent diplomatic actions to pressure the Iranian authorities to stop the state violence.
As the crisis unfolds, continued international attention and pressure, coupled with documentation of abuses and support for accountability mechanisms, remain crucial to protecting the rights of protesters and advancing respect for human dignity in Iran.
Photo Credit: Body bags outside the Kahrizak Forensic Medical Center in Tehran. (TGR File).
Lara Kajs is the Founder and Executive Director of The Genocide Report (TGR). She has conducted extensive fieldwork in conflict and displacement settings, including Yemen, Syria, and Afghanistan. Her work focuses on humanitarian crises, international humanitarian and international law, and atrocity prevention.