| Unarmed and Exterminated
Artist: Behnam Mohammadi
The nationwide anti-regime demonstrations in Iran, since December 28, have led to the deadliest state crackdown since 1979, and the state has shut down internet access since January 8.
Recent reports from inside Iran, from medical networks to high level official sources, reveal a shocking wave of state-led killings on January 8 and 9, 2026. Medical networks estimate 33,000 people died in 48 hours, while Iran International, a London-based outlet, puts the number even higher at 36,500.
These numbers mean that the Islamic Republic’s henchmen killed at least one Iranian every five seconds, showing a level of state violence never seen before.
The scale of these killings in 2 days, is hard to compare to recent events. For example, the Hamas attack on October 7, 2023, killed about 1,200 people, but the Islamic Republic security forces and their agents killed about 18 times that number in just one day. It took about 6 months from the beginning of the Gaza war on October 7, 2023, to reach a similar death toll to what happened in Iran in only two days.
Professor Payam Akhavan, a leading figure in human rights and humanitarian justice and a contributor to the Srebrenica genocide indictment, where about 8,000 Bosnian Muslims were killed in July 1995, described reports of morgues running out of body bags, refrigerator trucks being used as temporary morgues, and bodies being taken to growing mass graves.
He said that what happened was not confusion between fighting armies, but a targeted extermination of unarmed civilians who only wanted a future based on dignity.
Welcome to the Kayhan Life Week in Review
In a major diplomatic shift, the European Union moved to designate Iran’s Revolutionary Guard Corps as a terrorist organization this week, underscoring growing international resolve over Tehran’s escalating repression and regional behavior.
The decision came as a U.N. expert reported that Iranian security forces have seized wounded protesters from hospitals and demanded ransoms from families. At the same time, authorities widened their crackdown on athletes, artists, and businesses amid a prolonged internet blackout.
Rising suspense with Washington, where officials weighed potential strikes and deployed an aircraft carrier group, prompted airlines to reroute flights and even pushed Hezbollah to adopt an unusually cautious tone. A Reuters investigation found Iranian fuel shipments aiding Myanmar’s junta. And finally, Iranian filmmakers gained global recognition with several Oscar nominations.
►European Union foreign ministers on Thursday agreed to include the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps on the bloc’s list of terrorist organisations, putting the powerful guards in a category similar to that of Islamic State and al Qaeda and marking a symbolic shift in Europe’s approach to Iran‘s leadership.
►The U.N. Special Rapporteur on Iran, Mai Sato, reported receiving accounts that Iranian security forces have been removing injured protesters from hospitals and detaining them, violating their right to medical care. She also said families are being asked to pay ransoms of $5,000–$7,000 to recover the bodies of relatives killed in the recent protests.
►The International Olympic Committee voiced concern for the safety and well-being of Iranian athletes amid the country’s escalating unrest, noting that it remains in close contact with Iran’s Olympic community. A growing number of prominent athletes and actors have been swept up in the government’s crackdown on the ongoing, deadly protests. On Jan. 20, the Tehran Prosecutor’s Office announced that criminal cases had been opened against dozens of public figures and businesses accused of supporting the protest movement.
►The internet restrictions have drawn sharp criticism from business leaders and several government officials, including Communications Minister Sattar Hashemi, who noted that 10 million people rely on the digital economy for their livelihoods.
►U.S. President Donald Trump said on Thursday that the United States had an “armada” heading toward Iran but hoped he would not have to use it, as he renewed warnings to Tehran against killing protesters or restarting its nuclear program.
►Sources say President Trump is exploring targeted military strikes on Iranian security leaders to support protesters and push conditions toward “regime change.” But Israeli and Arab officials warn that airpower alone cannot overthrow Iran’s clerical government.
►Marked by an unusually muted and subdued tone, Naim Qassem, leader of Lebanon’s Hezbollah, used a televised address to warn that the group faced potential aggression and was prepared to defend itself, while underscoring that it was “not neutral.” The tempered language stood in contrast to Hezbollah’s traditionally forceful declarations of solidarity with the Islamic Republic of Iran, suggesting a deliberate effort to avoid escalation at a moment of heightened regional tension.
►Airlines have been rerouting and cancelling some flights across the Middle East as tensions ramp up between Iran and the United States.
►A Reuters investigation found that illicit shipments of jet fuel and urea from the Islamic Republic have strengthened Myanmar’s junta, enabling a bombing campaign that has hit over 1,000 civilian sites in 15 months. These supplies have significantly shifted the balance of the civil war by boosting the junta’s firepower relative to rebel groups lacking comparable weaponry. For Iran’s embattled regime, the trade offers both much-needed revenue and expanded influence amid tightening sanctions.
►Jafar Panahi’s “It Was Just An Accident” was nominated for Best International Feature (and Best Original Screenplay. Two other Iranians are shortlisted for an Oscar this year: Mohammadreza Eyni and Sara Khaki, whose “Cutting Through Rocks” were nominated for Best Documentary Feature Film.
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