The 2025–2026 Iran massacres were a series of mass killings of civilians by the Iranian government during the 2025–2026 Iranian protests, deploying both its own security forces and importing foreign militias to suppress public dissent nationwide. As of September 2026, most death toll estimates ranged from 5,000 people to over 36,500, including 209 government-affiliated military and non-military personnel, making these among the largest massacres in the modern history of Iran.
On 25 January, Time reported that a specific list included 30,304 protest-related deaths registered in civilian hospitals for 8 and 9 January alone. The same day, Iran International estimated total deaths at over 36,500. An Iranian doctors' network cited by The Guardian estimated that the death toll could be more than 30,000, based on an estimated factor of ten undercount in the official death toll. AP News reported that the government's overwhelming use of violence had caused despair among the public.
Ali Larijani, secretary of the Supreme National Security Council, has been attributed responsibility as one of the key planners of the massacres by former Iranian government officials. The crackdown was initiated in pursuit of orders from Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei and senior officials to use live fire against protesters. Khamenei himself had ordered the protests "crush[ed]... by any means necessary". As of 19 January 2026, the Iranian government had reasserted control over the protests. Worldwide support protests took place on 14 February, and protest waves restarted in western Iran on 16 February and in universities on 21 February.
Khamenei acknowledged "thousands" had been killed during the protests, blaming American president Donald Trump for the massacre and accusing those leading the protests of affiliation with the United States and Israel. The Iranian government put the death toll at 3,117, stating that 2,447 were civilians and security forces, and the rest were "terrorists". The government published an official list of 2,986 victims. Human Rights Activists in Iran (HRANA) described the official list as mostly unverifiable due to the lack of sufficient identifying details. Iran International stated on 3 February that it had its own confirmed list of 6,634 deaths, of which less than 100 were on the official list. HRANA published a full report on 23 February 2026, including a detailed named list of 7,007 deaths. According to documents, Iran International reported that more than 36,500 Iranians were killed by security forces during the January 8-9 crackdown. Similarly, Time Magazine, citing Iranian health ministry officials, reported that more than 30,000 people could have been killed during the crackdown.
On 11 January 2026, Iranian president Masoud Pezeshkian accused the United States and Israel of being behind the unrest and alleged that foreign-backed "terrorists" were responsible for killings during the protests. The Iranian cabinet similarly blamed US- and Israeli-backed "mercenaries and terrorists" for killing civilians and security personnel, while Ali Larijani called Donald Trump and Benjamin Netanyahu "the main killers of the people of Iran". On 11 February, Pezeshkian expressed shame over the events and apologized for what he called the government's "shortcomings and deficiencies", but did not acknowledge responsibility by Iranian security forces for the killings.
In January 2026, and from 28 February to late May 2026, Iranian authorities imposed a total internet shutdown as part of their crackdown on the protests, restricting communication inside the country and limiting the flow of information about the killings to the outside world.
Background
Prior to the 2025–26 protests, the higher ranges of numbers of deaths of protesters and the higher ranges of numbers of mass executions of political prisoners during events in the history of the Islamic Republic of Iran have included 3,400 executions during the 1981–1982 Iran Massacres and 1,000 to 30,000 executions in 1988, 72 protestor deaths during the 2009 Iranian presidential election protests, 300–1,500 protestor deaths during the 2019–2020 protests, and 551 during the 2022–2023 Mahsa Amini protests.
Casualty estimates
Based on verified reports and video footage, during the first seven days of protests, security forces made extensive use of live ammunition, tear gas and crowd-control weapons, and conducted violent arrests. The Guardian reported that at least three children were killed and over 40 minors arrested during eight days of protests.
According to HRANA, during the first ten days of nationwide protests, through to 6 January inclusive, at least 34 protesters were killed, and at least 2,076 citizens arrested in at least 285 locations. On 7 January, 13 protesters were killed, bringing the total to 45, per Iran Human Rights.
On 8 January, at least 217 were killed in Tehran.
As of 10 January, the internet blackout limited reporting on casualties. Iran International estimated on 10 January that at least 2,000 protesters had been killed by government forces over the previous 48 hours.
On 12 January, Time reported that the number of protesters killed might have reached 6,000, excluding protesters whose bodies were taken directly to morgues.
On 13 January, Iran International concluded a multi-stage investigation, and based on government sources, eyewitness accounts, field reports, data from hospitals and testimonies from Iranian doctors and nurses, ascertained that at least 12,000 civilians had been killed. According to the report, the mass killings took place during the 8th and 9th January, and were largely perpetrated by the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) and members of the Basij militia. Planned and conducted in an organized manner, and, based on information obtained from the Supreme National Security Council and the Presidential Office, it was ordered by supreme leader Ali Khamenei himself, with the approval of the three branches of government. Furthermore, an order was given by the Supreme National Security Council for direct fire. On 25 January, The New York Times reported that Ali Khamenei himself ordered "to crush the protests by any means necessary". A senior government official was quoted as saying that security forces were given the green light to kill indiscriminately, including civilians, in order to "spread fear and deter further protests". One member of the security forces said that the goal was to kill as many people as possible.
On 13 January, CBS News, citing activist groups, stated the death toll may be as high as 20,000. On 17 January, The Sunday Times reported that at least 16,500 to 18,000 people had been killed and 330,000 injured. In a speech broadcast by Iranian state media on 17 January, Ali Khamenei admitted "several thousand" were killed during the protests. On 18 January, an Iranian official told Reuters that Iranian government estimates put the total death toll from the massacres at over 5,000.
On 20 January, the International Centre for Human Rights (ICHR) estimated, based on image and video evidence and sources in Iran, including "a credible source within Iran's public health system", that 43,000 people had been killed by the security forces.
On 22 January, the United Nations Special Rapporteur on Human Rights in Iran stated the number of civilians killed may surpass 20,000. On 22 January, HRANA updated its verified death counts to 4,714 adult protesters, 42 minors, 207 security force members, and 39 non-participants, while 9,798 additional deaths remained under investigation. NewsNation stated that its sources estimated the death count to be "closer to 30,000" than to HRANA's counts. On 24 January, HRANA's death count, including cases under investigation, exceeded 20,000: 5,149 adult protesters, 60 minors, 208 security force members, 42 non-participants, and 17,031 deaths under investigation, for a total of 22,490. HRANA stated that the overall level of repression was unprecedented.
A count of 25,654 "clinically reported [protest-related] deaths" for dates "up to the [23rd of] January" was stated by a doctor, Amir Parasta, on the basis of medical records "verified by at least two individuals in each medical organization". Sky News published the count on 29 January. A count of 25,654 deaths was published by The Sunday Times on 24 January as a "clinically verified" update from the doctors' network that had earlier reported a count of ~16,500.
On 24 January, The Sunday Times reported a statement by Reza Pahlavi that according to "activists and political prisoners" in Iran and "medical authorities", the total death toll was ~50,000, including ~15,000 deaths in Tehran.
On 25 January, Time reported an estimate of roughly ~30,000 protesters killed on the 8th and 9th of January alone. Amir Parasta, described by Time as a German–Iranian surgeon, stated to Time a total of 30,304 protest-related deaths from hospital records, excluding protest-related deaths recorded in military hospitals, deaths where the body was taken directly to a morgue, and deaths recorded in hospitals were absent from the list. Two senior officials told Time that ~30,000 "could have been killed", that the administration ran out of body bags, and that semi-trailer trucks were used instead of ambulances. On the same day, Iran International reported a series of official reports with death tolls to above 35,000. Reports to the Ministry of Interior on 20 January gave a count above 30,000. A report provided to the National Security and Foreign Policy Committee of the Iranian Parliament gave a count of 27,500. Reports by the Intelligence Organization of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps were of 33,000 on 22 January and 36,500 on 24 January.
On 27 January, a "network of more than 80 medical professionals across 12 of Iran's 31 provinces" in contact with The Guardian estimated that based on their observations, less than 10% of deaths were being officially registered. They inferred that the total "could exceed 30,000".
On 28 January, HRANA updated its verified death counts to 5,993 adult protesters, 113 minors, 214 security force members, and 53 non-participants; and its count of deaths still under investigation to 17,091 people. On 1 February, HRANA's verified death counts increased to 6,425 adult protesters, 146 minors, and 57 non-participants. The security force death count remained at 214. The number of death cases still under investigation dropped to 11,280 names.
A doctor, Yaser Rahmani–Rad, stated to Sky News that his network of doctors had previously estimated 20 to 30 thousand protest-related deaths, and at the time of the interview, published on 29 January, judged that the true value "could be higher".
On 23 February, HRANA published a detailed report, The Crimson Winter, based on the first 50 days of the protests, including a list of the names and other details of the 7007 confirmed deaths (6488 adult protesters, 236 minors, 207 security force members, and 76 non-participants), and 11,744 cases that remained under review.
Iranian government
On 22 January 2026, Iran Human Rights (IHRNGO) argued that Iranian government sources "ha[d] a documented and long-standing record of systematically underreporting deadly state violence". IHRNGO stated that based on verified executions of prisoners in Iran over the preceding five years, the official government figures only covered "an annual average of 12% of the executions recorded by IHRNGO".
On 1 February, the Office of the President of Iran published a list of 2,986 people killed in "recent incidents" out of the 3,117 that it had earlier stated as having been killed during the protests, stating that 131 identities were not yet determined. According to HRANA, the list was mostly unverifiable, due to "lack[ing] key information such as the time and place of death, the individual's status (protester, non-protester, or government-affiliated force), and a description of the circumstances". The Iran International editorial board stated on the 3rd of February that it had prepared its own list of 6,634 protest-related deaths, based on documentation including the "victims' names, photographs, cities of residence, circumstances of death, and testimonies provided by families and relatives". Iran International stated that there were less than 100 names in common between the two lists, and described the government's list as "a shameful attempt to downplay the scale of the largest street massacre in Iran's contemporary history."
Planning of the massacres
General preparations
According to a former Ministry of Interior official who had earlier been an IRGC member, long-term preparation for a massacre of the type that took place mainly on 8 and 9 January 2026 started in 2022. Plans included "marking and identifying elevated locations for sniper deployment", "ideological theoretical training and psychological preparation to kill, including firing final shots at protesters", and "training and educating criminal elements to play the role of leaders in gatherings, both to identify people and to steer street movements." According to IranWire, Ali Larijani was one of the key planners of the massacres, which were modelled on those on the 1989 Tiananmen Square massacre.
Specific orders
Primary responsibility for the massacres was attributed by The New York Times (NYT) and Iran International to Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei. According to the NYT, Khamenei gave an order on 9 January to the Supreme National Security Council to "crush the protests by any means necessary". Iran International stated the Khamenei gave "a direct order" to carry out the killings and that "the heads of all three branches of government" had "explicit knowledge" and gave their approval for the order.
Iran International stated that the Supreme National Security Council issued an order for live fire. The NYT stated that the orders given to security forces were "to shoot to kill and to show no mercy".
Former IRGC detainee "Kazem", released in exchange for cooperation with the IRGC, described his participation on the nights of 8 and 9 January to Iran International. On the afternoon of 7 January, Kazem was ordered to report to the IRGC Vali-e Asr garrison at 10:00 on 8 January. At the 8 January morning meeting, about 50 to 60 men including Kazem were authorised to Kalashnikov rifles, handguns and ammunition. Kazem received a temporary mission order on Mohammad Rasulullah Corps of Greater Tehran letterhead, signed by an official of the Imam Ali Central Security Headquarters, a weapon, and was deployed in western Tehran before 20:00. According to Kazem, the operations were carried out by two methods: "hunting leaders" and "crowd steering". In "hunting leaders", IRGC agents pretended to be protest participants, selected key protesters as targets, and either shot them from behind in convenient situations with handguns, or described their clothing as targets to rooftop snipers. In "crowd steering", parts of the crowd were steered into areas where they were ambushed and killed, aiming to maximise the number of killings.
Kazem stated that government security forces had removed valuables from banks and mosques and then set them on fire. He stated that he had "personally witnessed instructions to remove valuable items from a mosque before it was set on fire".