• Iran’s security forces have carried out mass killings of protesters after nationwide protests escalated on January 8, 2026.
• The mass killings by Iranian security forces are a stark reminder that rulers who massacre their own people will keep committing atrocities until they are held to account.
• UN member states should urgently convene a special session of the UN Human Rights Council to put human rights and accountability in Iran front and center of the international response.

Iran’s security forces have carried out mass killings of protesters after nationwide protests escalated on January 8, 2026, Human Rights Watch said today. Thousands of protesters and bystanders are believed to have been killed, while the government’s severe restrictions on communications have concealed the true scale of atrocities.

Security forces scaled up their deadly crackdown in a coordinated manner after January 8, resulting in large-scale killings and injuries of protesters and bystanders across the country. Human Rights Watch reviewed evidence that many protesters were killed or injured by gunshot wounds to their heads and torsos. Iranian officials cited in media outlets have admitted that the number of deaths has reached the thousands.

“The mass killings by Iranian security forces since January 8 are unprecedented in the country and a stark reminder that rulers who massacre their own people will keep committing atrocities until they are held to account,” said Lama Fakih, program director at Human Rights Watch. “United Nations member states should urgently convene a special UN Human Rights Council session to put human rights and accountability in Iran front and center of the international response.”

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