Iran’s crackdown on nationwide protests continued on Sunday, with reports of mass killings as demonstrations spread across the country amid warnings of drone surveillance.
The Center for Human Rights in Iran claimed that a “massacre was underway,” while the Human Rights Activists News Agency (HRANA) reported on “overflying surveillance drones and movements of security forces around protest sites, indicating ongoing monitoring and security control.”
“I doubt there will be any use of drones for direct strikes at this point,” Chell said. “But I wouldn’t be surprised if, beyond surveillance, they used drones to help position snipers and shock protesters.”
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“It shows how seriously the government takes the situation.”
The full extent of the violence was difficult to verify due to a near-total internet outage. According to NetBlocks, Iran’s connectivity with the outside world remained at about 1% of normal levels.
The most conservative estimates indicate that at least 2,000 people have been killed across Iran in the past 48 hours, Iran International reported.
The deaths of 544 people involved in the protests have been confirmed, and dozens of additional cases are under investigation. to HRANA.
HRANA said more than 10,681 individuals have been arrested and transferred to prisons. Protests have been registered at 585 locations in 186 cities in all 31 provinces, the agency reported.
Witnesses told it Iran International that security forces in some areas “appeared to be overstretched,” relying on intimidation, warning shots and violence.
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In this frame shot from a video obtained by the AP outside Iran, a masked protester holds a photo of Iranian Crown Prince Reza Pahlavi during a protest in Tehran, Iran, Friday, January. 9, 2026. (UGC via AP)
In other locations, mainly in southeastern Iran, rights groups said security forces fired directly at protesters in Zahedan after prayers, wounding several people.
“Fearing for the people, the regime deployed drones to monitor and control the demonstrations,” Safavi said. “In other areas there were clashes and attacks by the oppressive forces.”
Chell, CEO and co-founder from Draganflyclaimed that more danger was imminent given Iran’s sudden use of drones.
“Iran would not be unique or advanced in its use of drones by Western standards, but they are advanced in their tactical understanding and effectiveness in using them,” he said. “This deployment of drones signals 100% more danger, as if for no other reason the regime can know when and where to deploy resources.”
“It helps track specific people or groups fleeing protest locations,” Chell continued. “They could also use cells to track and listen, so they could track the cellphones of protesters who were at the protest sites.”
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This frame shot from a video released Friday, January 9, 2026, by Iranian state television shows a man holding a device to document burning vehicles during a night of mass protests in Zanjan, Iran. (Iranian state television via AP)
Chell said Iran is largely dependent on small, domestically produced systems.
“They would have the Bina, which has a smaller reconnaissance drone with a shorter operational range of up to 40 km,” he said. “These are typically lightweight, equipped with optical/infrared cameras, which are used to monitor movement and transmit images back to ground stations. These are the cameras most likely to be adapted for crowd monitoring in cities.”
The protests that began on December 28 over Iran’s economic collapse have become the largest anti-regime demonstrations in years, according to analysts and opposition groups.
“We could see an escalation in the use of intimidation/force multiplication effects from drones and/or the use of tear gas or smoke to help create payoffs from the public,” Chell said.
President Donald Trump reiterated the warnings to Tehran, saying the US stands ready to support protesters, and warned Iranian authorities against using lethal force.
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“Iran is looking at FREEDOM, perhaps like never before. The US is ready to help!!! President DONALD J. TRUMP,” he wrote on Truth Social.
Trump also said demonstrators appear to be gaining ground in some cities and warned Iranian leaders not to start shooting demonstrators, saying “we will start shooting too.”
