The International Commission of Jurists (ICJ) strongly condemns the Iranian authorities’ egregious use of widespread, excessive and lethal force to suppress ongoing anti-government demonstrations, in violation of the protestors’ rights to life, peaceful assembly and freedom of expression.

Since nationwide protests–calling for changes to the country’s governance in response to the crippling economic conditions Iranian citizens have been enduring–began on 28 December 2025, the Iranian authorities have reportedly unlawfully killed over 3,000 people, most of them demonstrators. Additionally, the authorities have arbitrarily arrested and detained over 16,700 individuals since the demonstrations began, with many detainees being subjected to treatment amounting to torture.

“Yet again, the Iranian authorities are resorting to mass killings, excessive force and widespread arbitrary arrests to suppress protests,” said Saïd Benarbia, ICJ Middle East and North Africa Programme Director. “The international community must immediately act to put pressure on the Iranian authorities to end these crimes and to ensure accountability.”

On 3 January 2026, following a week of protests, the Iranian Supreme Leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, called for “rioters” to be “put in their place”. Since then, mass unlawful killings as a result of the Iranian authorities’ intentional or indiscriminate use of live fire at protest sites across Iran have been reported, including in the cities of Tehran, Shiraz, Neyshabur, Najafabad and Ilam, with a pattern emerging suggesting that the Iranian security forces intentionally and systematically shot protestors and bystanders in the head and eyes.

Read the full article on Iran: immediately stop mass killings of protestors and other atrocities and end impunity