Iran Protests 2026: At Least 12,000 Killed in Brutal Crackdown Amid Internet Blackout

PAHARI BARUAH

The 2025–2026 Iranian protests, which erupted on December 28, 2025, over skyrocketing inflation, currency collapse, and widespread economic hardship, have escalated into one of the most violent episodes in the Islamic Republic‘s history. What began as localized demonstrations in Tehran’s business districts rapidly spread to all 31 provinces, transforming into broad anti-government unrest demanding regime change and an end to Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei’s rule.

The deadliest period occurred during the nights of January 8 and 9, 2026, when authorities imposed a near-total internet blackout, severing most communications, blocking emergency calls, and crippling independent reporting. This digital isolation plunged Iran’s 90-million population into near-silence from the outside world, while security forces-including the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) and Basij militia-reportedly unleashed coordinated live-fire operations against protesters.

Iran International, a London-based Persian-language broadcaster often critical of the regime, released a high-profile investigation on January 13, 2026, concluding that at least 12,000 people were killed-primarily during those two nights-labeling it the largest killing in Iran’s contemporary history. The outlet’s editorial board arrived at this figure after a rigorous, multi-source verification process, drawing on:

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A source close to the Supreme National Security Council.
Two sources from the presidential office.
IRGC accounts from cities including Mashhad, Kermanshah, and Isfahan.
Eyewitness testimonies, family reports, field observations, medical center data, and inputs from doctors and nurses nationwide.

According to the report, the violence was not sporadic but a premeditated operation ordered directly by Khamenei, with explicit approval from the heads of all three government branches and a live-fire directive from the Supreme National Security Council. Victims were predominantly young people under 30, many shot at close range or from elevated positions. Iran International described the blackout—including internet cuts, media shutdowns, and journalist intimidation-as a deliberate strategy to conceal the atrocity, issuing a statement titled “The killing of 12,000 Iranians will not be buried in silence.” The outlet pledged to refine the tally with public-submitted evidence while safeguarding sources and to share verified findings with international bodies.

This 12,000 estimate has drawn significant attention but remains an outlier due to verification challenges under the blackout. Other sources provide varying figures:

The U.S.-based Human Rights Activists News Agency (HRANA) reported over 3,300 confirmed deaths by mid-January (with thousands more under investigation), plus more than 24,000 arrests and thousands severely wounded. Earlier updates cited around 2,500–2,600 confirmed protester deaths.
Reuters quoted an unnamed Iranian official estimating at least 5,000 deaths, including about 500 security personnel, blaming much of the violence on “terrorists and armed rioters” backed by foreign powers.
Other reports, including from CBS News and activist groups, referenced unverified claims ranging up to 20,000, while some hospital-based estimates (e.g., via Time or expatriate networks) suggested 6,000 or higher in partial assessments.
Groups like Iran Human Rights (IHRNGO) and Amnesty International documented escalating lethal force, with calls for probes into potential crimes against humanity.

Iranian state officials, including Khamenei, have acknowledged “several thousands” killed-unusual for the leader-while blaming the U.S. and Israel for instigating and arming the unrest. Authorities insist most deaths stemmed from clashes with foreign-backed elements, not security forces, and have rejected high opposition figures. The government has vowed swift, severe punishments, including potential death sentences under charges like “moharebeh” (waging war against God), with expedited trials announced.

The internet blackout, starting around January 8 and lasting nearly two weeks (with partial restorations by mid-January), made real-time documentation nearly impossible. Monitoring organizations like NetBlocks confirmed widespread disconnection, limiting videos, coordination, and global awareness. Reports described overwhelmed hospitals, makeshift morgues, and families pressured over burials or forced to attribute deaths to other causes.

Street protests have largely subsided under heavy patrols and checkpoints, giving way to an uneasy calm in cities like Tehran, Shiraz, and Isfahan. Sporadic anti-Khamenei chants from homes continue, and isolated cases-such as the paused near-execution of protester Erfan Soltani-have highlighted ongoing repression.

This crackdown surpasses prior tolls from events like the 2019 fuel protests or the 2022 Mahsa Amini uprising in reported scale, though exact numbers remain contested amid information controls. As partial connectivity returns, documentation efforts persist, with rights groups urging international investigations and accountability to prevent further bloodshed.

Here are some examples of brutality of Iran government (source: iranintl.com)

Hessam Khodayarifard was shot dead in the western Iranian city of Kuhdasht on the evening of New Year’s eve. The 22-year-old was killed on Wednesday night, December 31, 2025, during a crackdown on protests, two family sources told Iran International. Authorities initially refused to hand over his body and pressured the family to present him as a member of the Revolutionary Guard’s Basij militia, relatives said. The claim was later publicly rejected by Hessam’s father, who spoke at his son’s funeral after the body was eventually returned. But his burial brought no peace. Mourners gathered in large numbers, chanting anti-government slogans. Confrontations erupted as security personnel moved in, turning the funeral into another site of repression where grief and anger were met with force.

On New Year’s Day, gunfire cut through the night in Azna in Iran’s western Lorestan province, where Shayan Asadollahi was shot dead. He was 28. A relative told Iran International that Shayan was killed as he and a group of other protesters were returning home from a demonstration. Several military pickup trucks belonging to the Revolutionary Guard attacked the group, the source said, and security forces opened fire using military-grade weapons. A live round struck Shayan in the abdomen according to photographs verified by Iran International. At least two other protesters were also killed during the same crackdown, the source added. Revolutionary Guards-affiliated Fars News later reported that three protesters had been killed in Azna. Shayan was a barber, known in his community for working long hours to support his family. About a year earlier, his father and uncle had both died in an accident, the source said, leaving Shayan as the family’s sole breadwinner.

Another victim from Azna was still a child. Reza Moradi was 17 – the eldest child in his family which hails from the Abdolvand tribe, part of Iran’s Lur minority. He was shot on Thursday, January 1 during protests outside Azna’s central police station. Security forces shot him twice, a source close to the family said: once in the head and once in the lower torso. Video analyzed and verified by Iran International from that evening shows Reza unconscious on the ground, blood visible along the side of his head. Bystanders carried him to Valian Hospital in the nearby city of Aligudarz.

The hospital was placed under heavy security, the source said. Visits were banned. Only once – after repeated insistence – was Reza’s mother allowed to see her son briefly. Reza died in hospital on the following Monday morning. Authorities initially refused to hand over his body. When Reza was eventually returned and buried, a video at his grave site showed his younger brother clinging to the fresh earth in tears. Reza had dropped out of school to help support his family, working as an apprentice in auto body repair and paint. His father is a laborer, and the family’s financial situation was dire, the source said.

Thousands and thousands……IRAN IS BLEEDING NOW!

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