Since 28 December 2025, people in Iran, long outraged at decades of political repression and economic hardship, have poured into the streets demanding fundamental change and a political system that respects human rights and dignity. What began with shop closures and strikes in Tehran’s Grand Bazaar in response to a sharp currency collapse and chronic state mismanagement of essential services quickly evolved into mass nationwide street demonstrations. Many protesters began to vocally call for the downfall of the Islamic Republic system.
The Iranian authorities have responded with an unprecedented and brutal crackdown. Beginning around 8 January 2026, security forces have engaged in widespread lethal repression under a near-total internet and communications blackout, making independent verification difficult and hiding the true scale of violence from the outside world.
Multiple credible human rights organisations and media reports have documented that security forces repeatedly and unlawfully used live ammunition, rifles, shotguns loaded with metal pellets, and other heavy weapons against largely unarmed protesters. Hospitals have been overwhelmed with the injured, including people with gunshot wounds to the head and torso. Outreach by Iranian human rights groups has recorded thousands of deaths and tens of thousands of arrests, even as state figures remain opaque and contested.
Medical facilities and mortuaries are under extreme strain. Families, unable to obtain clear information because of the communications blackout, have searched overflowing hospitals, morgues, and even piles of bodies stored in warehouses or freight containers for missing loved ones. This breakdown of basic systems has deepened the trauma experienced by ordinary civilians.
Amid a wave of sweeping arrests, detained protesters and dissidents are at serious risk of torture and other ill-treatment in detention. There are credible reports that some detainees are facing the death penalty, following directives from Iran’s judiciary to show “no leniency” against those who dared to stand up against the system.
The international community has begun to respond: the UN Human Rights Council held an emergency session to condemn Iran’s brutal crackdown, and human rights groups are calling for urgent action, including special sessions of the UN Human Rights Council and the UN Security Council to deter further massacres and pursue international criminal justice.
RDI calls on the Iranian authorities to immediately end the use of lethal force, release all those arbitrarily detained, and respect fundamental rights to life, expression, and peaceful assembly. We also urge UN member states and international bodies to take decisive action to protect civilians, ensure accountability for human rights violations, and stop the killings before more lives are lost.
References
- HRA Condemns the Use of Lethal Force Against Protesters Amid Iran’s Nationwide Internet Blackout – Hrana
- Iran: Growing Evidence of Countrywide Massacres | Human Rights Watch
- İran’daki internet kesintisinin ekonomiye verdiği günlük zararın 20 milyon doları aştığı iddia edildi
- December 2025 Iran Uprising: A Comprehensive Report on State Repression – Iran HRM
- UN rights body censures Iran’s ‘brutal repression’ of protests | Reuters
