By Mohammad Nahid, human rights activist (His views are his own).
Since late December 2025, and particularly during the nights of January 8 and 9, 2026, Iran has witnessed one of the bloodiest state crackdowns in its contemporary history. Protests that initially began over economic grievances rapidly evolved into a nationwide movement challenging the governing structure. The state’s response was not crisis management, but the systematic deployment of organized violence, the use of military-grade weapons, the total shutdown of communications, and the physical elimination of protesters. A body of medical reports, eyewitness testimonies, and leaked information from within state institutions indicates the commission of widespread and systematic crimes against humanity.
1. Scale of the Humanitarian Catastrophe: Killings, Injuries, and Mass Blinding
According to a report compiled by a network of physicians inside Iran and published by The Sunday Times, at least 16,500 people were killed, and between 330,000 and 360,000 were injured during the crackdown. These figures were reported under conditions of an almost complete internet and communications blackout imposed since January 8, which has severely limited independent verification.
Medical findings indicate that:
- The majority of victims were under the age of 30;
- The widespread use of live ammunition, shrapnel, and military weapons caused fatal injuries to the head, neck, and chest;
- Between 700 and 1,000 individuals lost one or both eyes;
- Approximately 7,000 eye injuries were documented at a single ophthalmology hospital in Tehran (Noor Clinic);
- Disturbing reports indicate more than 800 eye enucleations performed in a single night in Tehran.
This pattern demonstrates the deliberate blinding of protesters as a method of repression, an act which under international law constitutes torture, cruel and inhuman treatment, and a crime against humanity.
2. Use of Lethal Force and Military Weapons Against Civilians
Testimony from a physician treating protesters, published by the Center for Human Rights in Iran, provides a clear account of a deliberate and coordinated shift in the state’s repression doctrine. According to this testimony:
- From the night of January 8 onward, security forces shifted from pellet shotguns to live and automatic gunfire;
- Kalashnikov rifles, PK machine guns, and heavy DShK machine guns were deployed;
- Shots were fired at close range with clear intent to kill;
- Snipers were positioned on rooftops;
- Pickup trucks mounted with heavy machine guns patrolled urban streets.
These actions not only violate the UN Basic Principles on the Use of Force and Firearms by Law Enforcement Officials, but effectively transformed civilian protests into a battlefield scenario against an unarmed population.
3. Deliberate Collapse of Essential Services and Information Siege
The shutdown of the internet, mobile networks, SMS services, emergency numbers (110, 115), navigation systems, and even internal hospital networks formed part of a deliberate strategy to conceal crimes and paralyze humanitarian response.
According to medical testimony:
- Patients died due to critical blood shortages;
- In some cases, security forces obstructed blood transfusions;
- Injured individuals avoided hospitals for fear of arrest;
- Security forces systematically recorded and tracked the identities of wounded patients inside medical facilities.
These acts constitute grave violations of the right to life, the right to health, and the principle of medical neutrality under international humanitarian and human rights law.
4 – Enforced Disappearances, Coercion of Families, and Concealment of Bodies
Testimonies further indicate that:
- Bodies were removed from streets and transferred to other cities;
- Families were subjected to financial and security coercion to retrieve the remains of their loved ones;
- Many victims were unidentifiable due to the severity of injuries.
These practices align squarely with the international definition of enforced disappearance and violations of human dignity after death.
5 – Judicial Repression and the Threat of Mass Executions
Parallel to the street killings, Iran’s Judiciary Chief, Gholam-Hossein Mohseni-Eje’i, officially ordered the “expedited” adjudication of protest-related cases, including charges of “enmity against God” (moharebeh). Investigations across 144 cities indicate that approximately 50,000 detainees face an imminent risk of execution.
This directive:
- Explicitly negates the right to a fair trial;
- Calls for punitive verdicts “in the shortest possible time”;
- Recalls the pattern of the 1988 mass execution of political prisoners.
The execution of wounded detainees, summary trials, and special courts constitute judicial killings and crimes against humanity.
6 – Direct Responsibility of Ali Khamenei and Senior State Officials
Independent reports, leaked official information, and credible testimonies indicate that this crackdown was carried out:
- On the direct orders of Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei;
- With the knowledge and participation of the heads of all three branches of government;
- Through the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC), the Basij, and security forces.
Under international criminal law, official capacity does not confer immunity. Pursuant to:
- Article 7 of the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court;
- The doctrine of command responsibility;
- Established jurisprudence of international tribunals,
Ali Khamenei and other senior officials bear individual criminal responsibility for crimes against humanity, including murder, torture, persecution, and enforced disappearance.
7 – International Responsibility and the Responsibility to Protect (R2P)
Under Paragraphs 138 and 139 of the 2005 UN World Summit Outcome Document, when a state is unwilling or unable to protect its population from crimes against humanity, the responsibility shifts to the international community.
The situation in Iran—characterized by:
- Organized mass killings of civilians;
- Lethal repression using military weapons;
- Imminent mass executions;
- Systematic concealment of crimes — clearly meets the threshold for the activation of the Responsibility to Protect (R2P).
Conclusion
What is unfolding in Iran today is not merely a pattern of human rights violations; it constitutes a coordinated campaign of physical and judicial elimination of political opponents. In this context, international silence is not neutrality—it is complicity.
Formal Legal Demands
- The establishment of an independent international commission of inquiry with full investigative powers;
- The prosecution of Ali Khamenei and other senior perpetrators before the International Criminal Court or a special international tribunal;
- The exercise of universal jurisdiction by states against those responsible;
- The immediate imposition of targeted judicial and criminal sanctions;
- An immediate halt to executions and the unconditional release of political detainees;
- Guaranteed access to the internet, information, and independent media.
Every day of delay means more victims—and a heavier historical responsibility for the international community.
