Iranian protest crackdown turns deadliest yet, report says

Iranian protesters are facing their deadliest day yet, new reports say, as security forces launch mass killings and executions in a sweeping crackdown some have described as “genocide”.

Accordingly Sunday TimesA report compiled by doctors in the area and reviewed by the outlet estimates that security forces killed at least 16,500 protesters and injured more than 330,000.

The report also described the violence as “a complete massacre” and warned that the real figure could be even higher due to limited access to hospitals and an almost complete loss of communication.

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Most of the victims are believed to be under the age of 30, the report said. This underscores the heavy toll on Iran’s younger generation as the regime intensifies its efforts to crush dissidents.

Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei acknowledged Sunday that “several thousands of people” have been killed since the protests began on December 28.

In a televised speech, he blamed the demonstrators, calling them “foot soldiers of the United States” and falsely claiming that the protesters were armed with imported live ammunition.

Meanwhile, Human Rights Activists News Agency (HRANA) reported that according to confirmed figures as of the 22nd day of the protests, 3,919 people were killed, 8,949 more people were investigated, 2,109 were seriously injured and 24,669 people were detained.

HRANA noted that the actual death toll was likely much higher due to the internet shutdown.

Professor Amir Parasta, an Iranian-German eye surgeon and medical director of Munich MED, said in The Sunday Times report that doctors in Iran were “shocked and crying” despite having experience treating war injuries.

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Eye surgeon Amir Parasta called the crackdown “a whole new level of brutality.” (UGC via AP)

“This is a whole new level of brutality,” Parasta said. He added that Starlink terminals smuggled into Iran have been the only means of communication since authorities cut off internet access on January 8.

Eyewitnesses who fled Iran also described snipers targeting protesters’ heads, mass shootings, and systematic blinding with pellet guns.

A former Iranian citizen said in the report that doctors reported that more than 800 eyes were operated on in a single night in the capital alone, and that more than 8,000 people were probably blind nationwide.

“This is a genocide committed under the guise of digital darkness,” Parasta said.

According to Ali Safavi, a senior official of the National Council of Resistance of Iran (NCRI), there has been a dramatic increase in executions as well as street murders.

Safavi told Fox News Digital that 2,200 people were executed in 2025, and 153 people were executed in the first 18 days of January 2026, an average of more than eight per day.

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President Trump condemned Ayatollah Ali Khamenei over the weekend, calling him a “sick man.” (Majid Saeedi/Getty Images)

“Ali Khamenei continues mass executions in parallel with the killing of young protesters,” Safavi said. “According to our data, there are now three executions by hanging every hour.”

Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi had previously disputed the high death toll reported in an interview with Fox News’ Bret Baier, claiming deaths were only in the hundreds and calling the higher figures “misinformation.”

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President Donald Trump harshly condemned Khamenei over the weekend, calling him a “sick man” and calling for new leadership in Iran.

In an interview with Politico, Trump accused Khamenei of overseeing the “total destruction of the country” and using “an unprecedented level of violence,” adding that Iran’s leadership must “stop killing people.”