More and more brutal evidence of the Iranian regime’s crackdown on its own people is circulating online, while the true number of deaths in the Iranian protests remains hotly disputed amid internet blackouts and state intimidation. According to activists, media reports and medical data, estimates range from thousands of confirmed deaths to tens of thousands of feared deaths.
Fatemeh Jamalpour, an Iranian journalist who has covered every major protest movement in the past two decades, said the latest crackdown marks a turning point in the regime’s use of force. “The regime’s level of violence has increased dramatically, and with an internet crackdown, it is difficult to know the true scale of the killings.”
INSIDE TRUMP’S IRAN WARNING – AND THE UNEXPECTED PAUSE THAT FOLLOWED
Iranian security forces reportedly killed prisoners and burned bodies during protests. Clashes in Kermanshah, Rasht and Mashhad continued despite government claims. (NCRI)
“In previous protests, military-grade weapons were mainly used in minority provinces such as Kurdistan and Baluchestan,” she added. “This time they were used across the country… Health Ministry officials told us they had prepared body bags for the dead.”
The most-cited baseline comes from the Human Rights Activists News Agency, or HRANA, a U.S.-based group that tracks deaths by name and location.
On January 25, HRANA reported that there were 5,848 confirmed deaths. Of these, 5,520 were demonstrators, 77 were children under the age of 18, 209 were government-affiliated forces and 42 were non-protesters or civilians. The number of deaths still under investigation stands at 17,091.
The state tax building burned down during Iran’s protests, on a street in Tehran, Iran, January 19, 2026. (Majid Asgaripour/WANA (West Asia News Agency) via Reuters)
The group has stressed that the confirmed figures only reflect cases that can be independently documented, and that the overall figures are expected to rise as more information emerges.
According to the Associated Press, Iranian authorities have offered only one official count, 3,117, and have not publicly updated it in the past five days. Authorities have not released any names, locations or documentation to support that figure.
US AMBASSADOR WARNS IRAN AT UN EMERGENCY MEETING THAT TRUMP IS ‘MAN OF ACTION’, ‘ALL OPTIONS ARE ON THE TABLE’
The Munich Med Group report, authored by Prof. Dr. Amir-Mobarez Parasta, collects hospital-recorded deaths from multiple Iranian cities and applies what the author describes as a conservative extrapolation model to account for under-reporting during the communications blackout.
Using that methodology, the article estimates a nationwide death toll of about 33,130 people as of January 23. The author emphasizes that the figure is not a verified count, but a lower limit estimate based on partial medical data and stated assumptions.
Iran Internationally published has conducted its own investigation and claims it has reviewed documents showing that more than 36,500 people were killed during the two days of protests on January 8 and 9 alone. The newspaper said the documents came from sources in Iran, but the claims had not been independently verified.
KHAMENEI CALLS TRUMP A ‘CRIMINAL’, ACCUSES HIM OF DEADLY PROTESTS SWIMMING IRAN
Iranians gather while blocking a street during a protest in Tehran, Iran on January 9, 2026. (MAHSA / Middle East Images / AFP via Getty Images)
The wide gap between confirmed counts and higher estimates reflects not only the scale of the violence, but also the circumstances under which it took place.
According to Jamalpour, despite the internet shutdown, doctors and medical workers tried to document what they saw using limited satellite connections.
“Many doctors and medical staff tried to send us their bills and documentation through small Starlink connections,” she said. “Medical workers say protesters were often shot in the head and neck, with the intent to kill. Many were killed by multiple bullets. Some were shot from behind as they tried to flee.”
Jamalpour said the victims she documented reflected a generation that the regime seemed determined to destroy. “The dead include children and a 67-year-old man, but most are young people under the age of 30,” she said.
TRUMP THREATENS IRAN WITH CRUSHING RESPONSE IF TEHRAN DENIES STOPPING PROTEST EXECUTIONS
Buses burned during Iran’s protests, in Tehran, Iran, January 21, 2026. (Majid Asgaripour/WANA (West Asia News Agency) via Reuters)
Jamalpour described the killing of Mehdi Khanmohammadi, a 67-year-old retired army colonel and pilot. “He was killed by two bullets in Saadat Abad on Friday, January 9,” she said. “In one video, his daughter leans over his lifeless body and says, ‘Can you open your eyes and wake up?'”
She said such scenes have left the country in collective mourning. “Today the Iranians are in shock,” Jamalpour said. “There is sadness everywhere.”
At the same time, she warned that the crackdown is far from over. “Lawyers and human rights organizations are deeply concerned about the more than 20,000 protesters who have been detained and are at risk of execution,” she said.
CLICK HERE TO DOWNLOAD THE FOX NEWS APP
A woman walks onto an overpass next to a burned-out building damaged during recent protests in Tehran on January 19, 2026. (Atta Kenare/AFP via Getty Images)
But even amid the fear, Jamalpour says she’s hearing something new in Iran. “In my conversations from home, I hear people’s hopes for Trump’s help in liberating Iran,” she said. “And a determination to change the regime, now intertwined with anger and sadness.”
