DocumentedNamed / verified
7,015
Deaths confirmed by HRANA by mid-February, including 6,508 protesters and 226 children. HRANA was still reviewing thousands of additional cases.
HRA / HRANA report ↗The January 8–9 massacre · Iran · 18–19 Dey 1404
A regime that kills 54,000 of its own people is not a legitimate government.
The free world must stand with the people of Iran.
On January 8–9, the Islamic Republic cut Iran off from the world and used lethal force against nationwide protests. The verified toll is lower than the highest public claims; the evidence of mass killing, attacks on medical care and a campaign of concealment is overwhelming.
00 / Purpose
In January 2026 millions of Iranians took to the streets of Iran to reclaim their country
from the Islamic Regime.
In response, the regime massacred tens of thousands in just two days, while it cut the internet
to silence the story.
The people of Iran need the support of the free world, which begins by recognizing Crown Prince
Reza Pahlavi as the leader of Iran's transitional government.
01 / The scale
The massacre in numbers
How many
were killed?
Under reviewHRANA case files
11,744
Additional reported deaths pending verification. “Under review” is not the same as confirmed—and is not zero.
HRANA update ↗Hospital estimateJan 8–9 alone
up to 30,000
Two senior Iranian Health Ministry officials told TIME the two-night toll could be this high; a separate hospital list contained 30,304 registrations.
TIME investigation ↗Document claimNot independently published
36,500+
Iran International says classified Interior Ministry and intelligence documents it reviewed placed the Jan 8–9 toll above 36,500.
Iran International report ↗02 / The methods
This was not crowd control
How the regime
killed them.
Live fire at vital areas
Rights investigators, doctors and verified video described live ammunition, automatic fire, and wounds to heads, necks and chests across multiple cities.
Shooting into crowds
Human Rights Watch documented hundreds of shots in a six-minute recording; medical testimony described a flow of dead and wounded protesters and bystanders through emergency wards.
Darkness as cover
Connectivity fell to roughly one percent of normal levels as the uprising surged, obstructing reporting, family contact and real-time documentation.
When hospitals stopped being safe
Care under
armed surveillance.
Associated Press interviews with doctors and medical professionals described armed agents entering wards, filming patients, checking documents, obstructing care and taking away people identified as protesters. Amnesty documented arrests of wounded people needing life-saving treatment and of medical workers who cared for them.
“Every 15 to 30 minutes, the entire emergency ward would be emptied and then refilled.” — Doctor in Rasht, interviewed by AP
83+
Medical workers reportedly detained across 33 cities
66 hrs
One Rasht doctor’s account of continuous emergency work
500
Bodies reportedly brought to two Tehran hospitals by Jan 8 evening
03 / The conclusion
The Islamic Republic has forfeited every claim to legitimate government.
A government that answers nationwide protest with mass lethal force, an internet blackout, attacks on medical care and punishment of the wounded does not represent its people.
04 / The demand
What the free world must do
Recognize.
Support transition.
Democratic governments should recognize the Islamic Republic’s loss of legitimacy and acknowledge Crown Prince Reza Pahlavi as the leader of an Iranian transitional government in exile.
The purpose of transition is to end the cycle of mass killing, restore civilian authority, protect equal rights, preserve territorial integrity, separate religion and state, pursue accountability, and reach free elections in which Iranians choose their permanent system of government.
01 · Secular democracy
02 · Equal individual rights
03 · Territorial integrity
04 · Free and fair elections
This advocacy position is the publisher’s. The evidence links above should be assessed independently of it.
05 / The victims
Beyond every number was a life
They had names.
They had futures.
These are twelve of the people documented by the public memorial archive @javid_naman. Select a portrait to read an English translation of the account published with it.
06 / The sequence
What happened, in order
January 8–9,
hour by hour.
Crowds gather nationwide
Demonstrations swell across Tehran and cities throughout Iran following a call for coordinated action.
The country goes dark
Internet traffic collapses toward zero. International calling and messaging are also heavily disrupted.
Fire intensifies
Reports and video describe automatic gunfire and shooting into crowds. Emergency rooms receive waves of casualties.
The second night
The crackdown continues. Hospitals and makeshift clinics operate under pressure as agents monitor, arrest and remove the wounded.
Evidence emerges slowly
Named lists, medical testimony and fragments of video begin to cross the blackout. Verification continues for months.
07 / Visual record
What crossed the blackout
The streets.
The aftermath.
Photographs, citizen images and video frames preserve fragments of what happened before, during and after January 8–9. Each caption identifies its source and verification status where available; otherwise it describes only visible content.
Jan 08 · Tehran
Fires are lit as protesters rally in Tehran on January 8.
Getty Images via The Guardian ↗
Jan 08 · Tehran
Iranians attend an anti-government protest in Tehran.
UGC via Associated Press ↗
Jan 08 · Tehran
Demonstrators gather in a Tehran street during protests over the currency collapse.
Stringer / WANA / Reuters via The Guardian ↗
Jan 10 · Tehran
A wall reads “Death to dictator” during an anti-government protest.
UGC via Associated Press ↗
Jan 10 · Tehran
Pedestrians pass a burned-out building amid damage after the protests.
USA Today photo gallery ↗
Jan 09–11 · Kahrizak
A video frame circulated as showing mourners and dozens of bodies at a morgue outside Tehran after the crackdown.
UGC via Associated Press ↗
Feb 22 · Tehran
Students carry the Lion and Sun flag at Aria Mehr University of Technology weeks after the massacre.
@VahidOnline · CC0 via Wikimedia Commons ↗
Date / location unverified
A masked demonstrator holds a portrait of Reza Pahlavi with a sign reading “Pahlavi will return.”
Submitted image · Photographer unknown
Date / location unverified
A four-image montage shows protesters raising Iran’s Lion and Sun flag amid fires at nighttime demonstrations.
Submitted montage · Photographers unknown
Date / location unverified
A demonstrator holds a portrait of Reza Pahlavi beneath pro-Pahlavi graffiti during a nighttime gathering.
Submitted image · Photographer unknown
Date / location unverified
A monument is marked with the Persian slogan “Javid Shah” — “Long live the Shah.”
Submitted image · Photographer unknown
Date / location unverified
A masked demonstrator holds a portrait of Reza Pahlavi and a sign reading “Pahlavi will return” within a nighttime crowd.
Submitted image · Photographer unknown
Date / location unverified
Masked protesters hold a Persian street sign and make victory signs amid smoke at a nighttime demonstration.
Submitted image · Photographer unknown08 / Evidence desk
Open the source material
The record is
still being built.
Growing Evidence of Countrywide Massacres
Human Rights Watch · 16 Jan 2026
Open case file ↗Agents Obstructed Care in Packed Hospitals
Associated Press · 27 Feb 2026
Open case file ↗What Happened at the Protests in Iran?
Amnesty International · Jan 2026
Open case file ↗Nationwide Internet Shutdown Record
Internet Society Pulse · 8 Jan 2026
Open case file ↗The Crimson Winter
Human Rights Activists in Iran · Feb 2026
Open report PDF ↗Detailed Findings on Iran
UN Fact-Finding Mission · 2026
Open report PDF ↗09 / Source notes
Trace every claim
Sources &
further reading.
- 01 Human Rights Activists in Iran The Crimson Winter: First 50 Days of Nationwide Protests
- 02 Amnesty International What Happened at the Protests in Iran?
- 03 Human Rights Watch Growing Evidence of Countrywide Massacres
- 04 Associated Press Iranian Agents Obstructed Care at Hospitals
- 05 TIME Protest Death Toll Could Top 30,000
- 06 Internet Society Pulse Iran Nationwide Shutdown
- 07 UN Fact-Finding Mission Detailed Findings on the Islamic Republic of Iran
- 08 Reza Pahlavi Public transition principles and commitment to free elections
- 09 Associated Press Iran Protests Through Their Eyes
- 10 The Guardian Anti-regime Protests in Iran and Around the World — in Pictures
- 11 Wikimedia Commons Iranian Revolution 2026 Media Archive
- 12 USA Today Wave of Anti-government Protests in Iran Draws Huge Crowds
- 13 The New York Times How Iran’s Crackdown Was Done
A note on certainty
Numbers on this page are not presented as interchangeable. “Confirmed” refers to individually documented cases. “Under review” refers to reports awaiting that standard. Hospital-network estimates, accounts of unpublished state records and statements by political leaders are labeled as such. All figures may change as documentation continues.