Featured film
77 Hours — the film about Iran's Two Nights
A psychological thriller by Vahid Mahdavi, set across the nights of 8 and 9 January 2026. Watch the trailers, read the story, and see the documented record behind it.
Iran protests, January 2026
What happened in Iran in January 2026: a dated record of the Crimson Winter protests, the Two Nights of 8-9 January, the Rasht massacre, and every published death toll.
Related: Israel, the US and Iran — how Iranians saw the strikes: the June 2025 twelve-day war, Operation Epic Fury in 2026, the targeting record, and the civilians killed anyway.
In thirty-one days, a protest movement that began over prices and blackouts became the deadliest confrontation between the Islamic Republic and its own citizens since 1979. This page records what happened, day by day, and sets every published death toll side by side so readers can see exactly where they disagree.
How many were killed? See the full Iran death toll tracker — verified named counts, official figures and the gap between them, by period.
Day by day
| 31 Dec 2025 - 3 Jan 2026 | Before the crackdown Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch documented at least 28 protesters and bystanders killed in 13 cities across 8 provinces. In Malekshahi, Ilam province, Reza Azimzadeh, Latif Karimi, Mehdi Emamipour, Fares (Mohsen) Agha Mohammadi and Mohammad Reza Karami were shot by IRGC forces firing from inside a Basij base. In Azna, Lorestan province, Vahab Mousavi, Mostafa Falahi, Shayan Asadollahi, Ahmadreza Amani, Reza Moradi Abdolvand and Taha Safari - sixteen years old, his body withheld from his family - were killed. |
|---|---|
| 3 January | The signal from the top Ali Khamenei said publicly that “rioters should be put in their place.” |
| 5 January | No leniency The Head of the Judiciary instructed prosecutors nationwide to show “no leniency” toward detained protesters. |
| 8 - 9 January | The Two Nights The state moved from police containment to full military suppression. The IRGC received an explicit order to use lethal force against unarmed civilians. Snipers, armoured personnel carriers and helicopter surveillance were deployed; medical facilities were targeted and doctors treating wounded protesters were arrested. In Rasht, HRANA documented at least 392 people killed, the vast majority after an internet blackout was imposed. Read the full account of the Two Nights. |
| 22 January | The UN estimate Mai Sato, UN Special Rapporteur on Human Rights in Iran, said the dead could surpass 20,000. |
| 22 - 24 January | Leaked internal reports Internal IRGC Intelligence Organization reports placed the toll at 33,000-36,500. A leaked parliamentary report cited 27,500. |
| 25 January | Two publications, two numbers Iran International published leaked Supreme National Security Council documents covering more than 400 cities. Time reported a list of 30,304 protest-related deaths registered in civilian hospitals for 8-9 January alone, citing two senior Iranian officials who said the administration “ran out of body bags” and used “semi-trailer trucks instead of ambulances.” |
| 1 February | The official count The Pezeshkian government published a figure of 3,117 dead, including some 214 security forces. |
| 23 February | The Crimson Winter report HRANA published a verified named list of 7,007 confirmed deaths - 6,488 adult protesters, 236 minors, 207 security personnel and 76 non-participants - with 11,744 cases still under review. Iran International independently compiled 6,634 names. |
Every published death toll
No independent investigation has been permitted inside Iran. These are the figures on the public record as of February 2026, with their sources.
| Source | Dead | Note |
|---|---|---|
| Government of Iran (1 Feb 2026) | 3,117 | Official count, including some 214 security forces |
| HRANA, The Crimson Winter (23 Feb 2026) | 7,007 | Verified named list; 11,744 cases still under review |
| Iran International (name list) | 6,634 | Independently compiled names |
| UN Special Rapporteur (22 Jan 2026) | 20,000+ | Stated as a possible floor, not a verified count |
| Leaked parliamentary report | 27,500 | Unverified leak |
| Time (25 Jan 2026) | 30,304 | Hospital registrations for 8-9 January alone |
| Leaked IRGC Intelligence reports | 33,000-36,500 | Unverified leak, more than 400 cities |
Iran International found fewer than 100 names in common between its list and the government's. Whichever figure survives independent investigation, the lowest credible leak already makes 8-9 January 2026 the deadliest two-day repression event in modern Iranian history.
Where it happened
Documented killings were recorded in Rasht, Tehran, Malekshahi and Ilam province, Azna and Lorestan province, and across more than 400 cities named in the leaked Supreme National Security Council documents. Rasht carries the single heaviest documented toll of the month.
Frequently asked questions
What happened in Iran in January 2026?
Protests that began in late December 2025 spread nationwide. On 8-9 January 2026 the IRGC was ordered to use lethal force against unarmed civilians, producing the deadliest 48 hours in the Islamic Republic's history, including the Rasht massacre. Published death tolls for the month range from the government's 3,117 to leaked IRGC figures of 33,000-36,500.
How many people were killed in the January 2026 Iran protests?
There is no agreed figure. The Pezeshkian government published 3,117 on 1 February 2026. HRANA's verified named list recorded 7,007 confirmed deaths. Iran International compiled 6,634 names and later published leaked Supreme National Security Council documents indicating 33,000-36,500. The UN Special Rapporteur said on 22 January that the toll could surpass 20,000.
What was the Rasht massacre?
The single deadliest documented incident of the January 2026 crackdown. HRANA documented at least 392 people killed in Rasht, the vast majority after an internet blackout was imposed on the city.
What are the Two Nights?
8 and 9 January 2026, when the state moved from police containment to full military suppression: snipers, armoured personnel carriers, helicopter surveillance, and the arrest of doctors treating wounded protesters.
Why do the death tolls differ so much?
An internet blackout, forced burials, and pressure on families to attribute deaths to accidents make independent verification difficult. Iran International found fewer than 100 names in common between its list and the government's.
Read next
- The Two Nights, 8-9 January 2026 — the full account of the Rasht massacre and the order to open fire.
- The Uprising — forty-seven years of state violence, 1979 to 2026.
- Victims database — named victims, searchable.
- Timeline, 1979-2026 — the pivotal events in order.
- The month-by-month protest record — December 2025, January 2026 and February 2026.
- December 2025 — how the Crimson Winter began.
- February 2026 — the counts, the apology, the war.
- Sources and methodology — how figures on this site are verified.
Sources
- Amnesty International — Iran
- Human Rights Watch — Iran
- HRANA — Human Rights Activists News Agency
- OHCHR — UN Special Rapporteur on Iran
Published under CC BY 4.0. Machine-readable data: /data/timeline.json, /llms.txt.
Key facts at a glance
- Peak: the nights of 8 and 9 January 2026, when coordinated lethal force was used across multiple cities simultaneously.
- Deadliest city: Rasht, with 392 deaths recorded by HRANA for the two nights.
- Hospital registries: 30,304 deaths recorded for the 48-hour period, according to figures reported by Iran International.
- Verified named deaths for the uprising: 7,007 by 23 February 2026 (HRANA), against an official admission of 3,117.
- Detentions: more than 100,000 across the uprising.
- Information control: near-total national internet shutdown during the deadliest hours, confirmed by NetBlocks.
How the killings were carried out
The evidence collected from January 2026 describes organised operations rather than crowd control that went wrong.
| Tactic | Evidence |
|---|---|
| Live fire into crowds from rooftops and moving vehicles | Video geolocated to Rasht, Neyshabur and Mashhad; wound patterns above the waist |
| Simultaneous action across cities on the same nights | Coordinated timing recorded by HRANA across multiple provinces |
| Total communications blackout during the operation | NetBlocks measurement of near-total national connectivity loss |
| Control of hospitals and morgues | Families refused access; wounded arrested at hospital doors; registries later leaked |
| Bodies withheld pending signed statements | Family testimony collected by Hengaw and HRANA |
| Mass overnight detention | More than 100,000 detained across the uprising, per HRANA compilation |
Full detail is on The Two Nights; the competing tolls are set side by side in the death toll tracker.
Frequently asked questions
What were the Two Nights?
The nights of 8 and 9 January 2026, when Iranian security forces used lethal force simultaneously across multiple cities during a near-total internet shutdown. Rasht recorded the highest verified single-city toll at 392 deaths.
How many people were killed in January 2026?
HRANA verified 7,007 named deaths for the uprising by 23 February 2026; Iranian officials admitted 3,117; hospital registries reported for the 48 hours of 8–9 January recorded 30,304. Higher estimates exist and are listed with their sources on the death toll tracker.
Was the internet shut down?
Yes. NetBlocks recorded a near-total national connectivity loss during the deadliest hours, which is why so much of the documentation emerged days later.
Reading the January evidence without conflating different counts
An event date is not a publication date
The January chronology includes later publications because they report on January events. That distinction matters: a report issued in February can describe deaths in January, while a cumulative uprising count can include incidents outside the calendar month. The date on a report and the period it measures should both remain visible.
The Two Nights account narrows the focus further to 8 and 9 January. A figure associated with those nights cannot automatically be compared with a figure covering the entire uprising. A responsible comparison first identifies the period, locations, categories of people and verification standard used by each source. Only then can differences between figures be interpreted.
Read the event-specific Two Nights account
Named lists, official statements and reported leaks
A named list makes individual cases available for scrutiny, although names alone do not establish every circumstance of death. An official statement is evidence of what authorities publicly acknowledged, not an independent measurement. A leaked record reported by a publication remains a reported document whose origin, completeness and terminology need examination.
These evidence types should not be added together. Two organisations may identify the same person under different spellings, and a hospital record may already include someone in a named list. Equally, a lower named count does not by itself disprove a higher estimate. The casualty tracker preserves the distinctions so that readers can assess each report without mistaking unlike methods for directly comparable totals.
Read the source-by-source casualty comparison
What a blackout establishes
Connectivity measurements can establish a loss of internet access. They cannot, by themselves, identify who fired a weapon, establish a death toll or prove the contents of an unpublished order. Those questions require additional evidence: testimony, medical information, original recordings, case records or a documented investigation.
Restrictions on communication can delay the arrival of evidence and make contemporaneous reporting incomplete. When a recording emerges later, its upload date should not be used as the event date without corroboration. A clip also needs location checks and a search for earlier publication. The historical Tehran photograph here shows a different protest period, explicitly identified as September 2022; it is contextual, not evidence of January 2026.
Review the archive verification method
From a city account to an individual case
The Rasht narrative and other city accounts concern particular incidents. They should retain their own dates and source scope rather than becoming shorthand for every death across Iran. A place-specific finding can be important without establishing a national ranking or a countrywide total.
Named biographies provide another layer of evidence: family relationships, age, occupation and the sources available for a person's death. A monthly overview cannot reproduce every biography, but it can connect readers to those records and preserve uncertainty where the circumstances remain unresolved. That is how a chronology stays useful as the evidence develops, rather than becoming a fixed narrative that later records cannot correct.
Documentaries
Long-form documentaries on Iran
Feature films, investigations and a three-part series on the uprising, the crackdown and the people behind the record.
All questions about Iran, answered
Every sourced question and answer on this archive, gathered on one page. Short answers first, with a link to the full page behind each one.