Iran’s security forces have carried out mass killings of protesters after nationwide protests escalated on January 8. Thousands of protesters and bystanders are believed to have been killed, while the government’s severe restrictions on communications have concealed the true scale of atrocities.
A new Human Rights Watch report details evidence reviewed by HRW researchers that shows many protesters were killed or injured by gunshot wounds to their heads and torsos. Iranian officials cited in media outlets have admitted that the number of deaths has reached the thousands.
From January 12 to 14, HRW spoke with 21 people, including witnesses, relatives of victims, journalists, human rights defenders, medical professionals, and other informed sources.
HRW researchers also analyzed dozens of verified photographs and videos posted on social media or sent directly to researchers.
>> Read new details and analysis from across Iran
In the capital, Tehran, videos show a heavily militarized response to the protests as they grew. Human Rights Watch verified videos that began to circulate on January 11 of body bags and bodies piled up in and around the Forensic Diagnostic and Laboratory Center in Kahrizak, south of the capital.
The bodies were placed there for families to identify their loved ones.
The protests erupted on December 28, 2025, sparked by the deteriorating economic situation and living conditions, and quickly spread across the country. Protesters demanded human rights, dignity, and freedom, and called for the downfall of the Islamic Republic.
“The mass killings by Iranian security forces since January 8 are unprecedented in the country,” said Lama Fakih, Program Director at Human Rights Watch. “They are a stark reminder that rulers who massacre their own people will keep committing atrocities until they are held to account.”
