Iran Human Rights (IHRNGO); 17 September 2026: In a new report on the deadly crackdown on the January 2026 protests, IHRNGO has published a list of more than 4,200 people killed. The list is the result of months of collecting information, cross-checking sources and verifying victims’ identities, providing an extensive body of documentation on the killing of protesters in Iran.
Among those identified are at least 420 women and 281 children under the age of 18. Twenty-five of the children were under 14, and the youngest victim documented was just four and a half months old.
IHRNGO stresses that these figures represent the minimum number of documented deaths, not the final death toll. The widespread internet and communications blackout, threats and pressure against families, restrictions on access to hospitals and forensic records, and the impossibility of conducting independent investigations inside Iran continue to obstruct efforts to establish the full scale of the killings.
Mahmood Amiry-Moghaddam, Director of IHRNGO, stated: “The true scale of the killing of protesters will probably only become clear after the Islamic Republic, through an independent fact-finding process. But even these minimum figures, together with the testimonies and evidence we have gathered, show that on 8 and 9 January the people of Iran faced a planned and coordinated mass-killing of protesters on a scale unprecedented in Iran’s contemporary history. The widespread use of military-grade weapons, shots aimed at vital parts of the body, the use of snipers and the shooting of people as they fled show that the objective was not simply to disperse demonstrations. The available evidence provides serious grounds for examining these killings in the context of crimes against humanity, and those who ordered and carried them out must be held accountable.”
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The Islamic Republic has put the death toll from the protests at 3,117. However, IHRNGO’s examination of the authorities’ own records shows that the official list is incomplete and far from comprehensive. At least 27 people whose deaths were recorded in official lists published by local governorates, as well as a further 20 whose deaths were reported by state media, are absent from the list released by the President’s Office.
One of the report’s most significant findings is the extraordinary concentration of killings on 8 and 9 January 2026. At least 3,356 people—91% of the cases for which an exact date of death has been established—were killed on those two days alone. Deaths were documented in cities across 30 of Iran’s 31 provinces, and the cases and testimonies reviewed indicate that large numbers of victims were killed by direct fire from government forces using military-grade weapons.
IHRNGO has documented recurring patterns in the use of lethal force across different parts of the country, including direct fire at gatherings, shots aimed at vital parts of the body, people being shot from behind or while fleeing, the use of snipers, and the killing of people who were not directly participating in the protests. The geographical scale, similarity of the methods used and concentration of the killings within such a short period raise serious questions about the planning, coordination and chain of command behind the crackdown.
Internet shutdown coincided with the peak of the killings
The peak of the killings coincided with the nationwide internet blackout on the evening of 8 January. Protests and killings continued the following day while the internet remained shut down and communications were severely disrupted.
Testimonies gathered by IHRNGO indicate that many people who went onto the streets on 9 January did not have an accurate understanding of the scale of the killings the previous night. The report examines separately the role of the communications blackout in concealing the extent of the killings and delaying public awareness of what was taking place.
Repression continued after the killings
The repression did not end when the mass shootings in the streets subsided. In the days and weeks that followed, wounded protesters, medical personnel and victims’ families were subjected to various forms of pressure and abuse. These included the presence of security forces in hospitals, the pursuit and abduction of wounded protesters, pressure on doctors and nurses, demands for payment before bodies were released, attempts to impose official narratives about the cause of death, restrictions on funerals, and threats against families to prevent them from speaking publicly.
Judicial repression also continued. By the time of publication, at least 29 people had been executed in connection with the January protests. Iran Human Rights has also identified a hundred protesters sentenced to death and warns that the true number is higher. In the majority of these cases, there have been reports of torture, forced confessions and serious violations of the right to a fair trial.
Mahmood Amiry-Moghaddam said: “The January protests once again demonstrated that the Islamic Republic is acutely aware of the depth of its legitimacy crisis, but is prepared to use the most extreme forms of violence against the people in order to preserve the system. The killing of protesters, pressure on families seeking justice, and the threat of execution against detainees are different parts of the same policy: maintaining power through fear.”
A list that must be corrected and completed
IHRNGO stresses that the published list is not final. The process of collecting information and verifying names will continue, and names and details will be corrected, completed or updated as new reliable information becomes available.
Alongside the main list, the report includes a separate table of 324 additional cases that have so far appeared in only one unofficial source and for which there is not yet sufficient information to verify the victim’s identity or the time, place or circumstances of death.
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IHRNGO urges families of those killed, eyewitnesses, medical personnel, journalists, local activists and anyone with verifiable information or documentation to help complete and correct the record. This includes information about people whose names are missing, corrections to names or personal details, further information about the time, place or circumstances of death, photographs, documents or other relevant evidence.
Publishing these names is not simply about presenting a statistic. Every name represents a human life and a family. Documenting the victims and the circumstances in which they were killed is an effort to preserve the truth in the historical record, prevent erasure and distortion, and contribute to truth-seeking, accountability and justice.
Recommendations
Iran Human Rights calls on the international community to: