International Center for Human Rights in Iran
Toronto, Canada – January 20, 2026
Based on conducted investigations, field research, verification of received images and videos, and interviews with multiple sources inside Iran, at least 43,000 people have so far been killed by agents of the Islamic Republic during the recent protests on the streets of Iran.
The protests began on Sunday, December 28, 2025 (7 Dey 1404), when shopkeepers and merchants in Tehran took to the streets and closed their businesses. Within a short time, the protests evolved into nationwide and political demonstrations involving cities across the country and broad segments of society. In the absence of effective mechanisms for political participation, the streets once again became the primary means for expressing public discontent.
The government’s response has been organized, premeditated, and multi-layered repression. According to numerous reports and eyewitness testimony, Islamic Republic security forces have engaged in direct live fire against unarmed protesters. In several cities, the use of snipers positioned on rooftops and overpasses has been reported and corroborated by published images. The location and nature of gunshot wounds, often to the head and other vital organs, demonstrate that the objective of these shootings was not crowd dispersal, but rather the killing of protesters.
At the same time, reports document the use of automatic fire with military-grade weapons, close-range shootings, and the deployment of motorized units to carry out rapid assaults on gatherings on January 8, 9 and 10, 2026. Security forces have also used pellet guns, tear gas in enclosed spaces, severe beatings with batons and stun devices, and have pursued protesters into residential neighborhoods and private homes—an operational pattern indicating a deliberate decision to suppress protests through maximum violence.
According to eyewitnesses, even after protesters were dispersed by gunfire and sought refuge in their own homes or the homes of others, security forces continued to pursue and shoot at them, actions that in many cases resulted in direct killings. In one documented case, an eyewitness reported that snipers targeted and killed five members of a family on the rooftop of their home in Karaj.
Initial estimates by media outlets and some human rights organizations placed the death toll at approximately 20,000. However, based on sources of the International Center for Human Rights in Iran and a comprehensive review of images, videos, and received reports, this figure was first revised to 35,000. Subsequently, following interviews with a credible source within Iran’s public health system, additional independent sources, and further documentation review, it was confirmed that at least 43,000 people have been killed by Islamic Republic forces during these protests.
According to a source within the health administration, more than 95 percent of the victims were killed during the previous Thursday and Friday, coinciding with an internet shutdown, as a result of live fire from military and hunting weapons with bullets primarily striking the head or other vital organs. This source emphasized that many wounded protesters, while in critical condition and hospitalized, were abducted by security forces from hospitals, later transferred to unknown locations or abandoned, and ultimately died. Many others died at the scene due to the severity of their injuries or massive blood loss.
Multiple testimonies indicate that regime forces showed no mercy even toward the wounded, and in some cases carried out killings by firing execution-style shots. According to informed sources, the actual number of those killed may be higher than reported, and investigations are ongoing.
Based on verification of images and reports and comparative investigative analysis, approximately 350,000 people have been injured and more than 20,000 have been arrested. Numerous reports have also documented the denial of medical care to the wounded, arrests inside hospitals, torture, ill-treatment, and temporary or enforced disappearances of detainees.
According to Ahmad Batebi, spokesperson for the International Center for Human Rights in Iran in Washington, D.C., the Islamic Republic is attempting to justify the killing of protesters by attributing the demonstrations to Israel and the United States—a claim that lacks any credible, independent evidence and cannot absolve the state of its direct responsibility for these crimes.
Crimes Against Humanity and Extrajudicial Killings
According to Ardeshir ZareZadeh, legal advisor and Director of the International Center for Human Rights in Iran (Canada), these actions constitute clear cases of extrajudicial killings and crimes against humanity. Pursuant to Article 7 of the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court, those who order, command, or carry out these crimes bear individual criminal responsibility, and such crimes are not subject to statutes of limitation. Furthermore, under the principle of Universal Jurisdiction, perpetrators may be prosecuted in international courts or in the domestic courts of other countries.
In addition, given the Iranian government’s inability or unwillingness to protect its population, the principle of Responsibility to Protect (R2P) is triggered. Under the global consensus reached in 2005, sovereignty is not absolute and cannot be invoked as a shield for the systematic killing of civilians. Sovereignty is not a license to kill.
Taken together, ICHR believes that this body of evidence, methods, and data presents a clear picture of a systematic and organized campaign of repression and mass killing; one that may silence the streets in the short term, but will not resolve the underlying crisis. Silence by the international community in the face of such violent repression and crimes against humanity will only enable the repetition and escalation of these atrocities.
For further information, please contact Dr. Ahmad Batebi in Washington, D.C., at the email address below.
You may also contact Dr. Daryanaz Shirin-Kam, Director of Communications of the Center in Toronto:
Info@HumanRightsINTL.com
International Center for Human Rights in Iran – Toronto, Canada
