What happened at the protests in Iran?
Protests erupted in Iran on 28 December 2025. People across the country, outraged at decades of repression, were demanding fundamental change and a political system that respects human rights and dignity. Iranian authorities have responded with an unprecedented deadly crackdown and, since 8 January 2026, cut all internet access to conceal their crimes. Security forces have used unlawful force, firearms and other prohibited weapons, against protesters, which resulted in mass killings and serious injuries.
Verified videos and eyewitness accounts gathered by Amnesty International show that security forces positioned on the streets and on the rooftops of buildings, including houses, mosques and police stations, have repeatedly fired rifles and shotguns loaded with metal pellets at protesters, frequently targeting their heads and torsos. Evidence gathered by Amnesty International reveals that security forces involved in the deadly crackdown include the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC), including its Basij battalions and various divisions of Iran’s police force, known by its Persian acronym FARAJA, as well as plain-clothes agents.
The authorities carried out massacres of protesters, primarily on 8 and 9 January, when the death toll rose into thousands. January 2026 marks the deadliest period of repression by the Iranian authorities in decades of Amnesty’s research.
