Iran protest deaths seen rising with one estimate topping 20,000

Patrick Sykes, Golnar Motevalli, Bloomberg News on Jan 22, 2026

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The number of people reported killed in Iran’s protest crackdown has surged as rights groups continue to verify suspected fatalities, with the United Nations warning the total could be more than 20,000.

The U.S.-based Human Rights Activist News Agency said it’s verified 4,902 deaths during the unrest that erupted in late December, according to a statement on its website. The group is reviewing a further 9,387, while more than 26,000 people have been arrested, it said.

Mai Sato, the UN’s special rapporteur on the situation of human rights in the Islamic Republic of Iran, said earlier this week that the number of civilians killed is estimated at 5,000 or more. Reports from doctors in the country suggest the figure may be at least 20,000, she added.

Rights groups attempting to measure the true toll of Iran’s suppression of some of the biggest demonstrations since the 1979 revolution have been hampered by ongoing restrictions to internet access and telecommunications. The protests were triggered in Tehran by a collapse in the currency, before spreading nationwide with calls for the end of Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei’s regime.

Iranian authorities provided their own toll for the first time on Wednesday, reporting 3,117 deaths, of which 2,427 are considered “innocent” — including members of the security forces, according to a statement by Iran’s National Security Council. It didn’t provide a breakdown or refer to any civilians.

An international fact-finding mission launched in the wake of Iran’s 2022 anti-government protests should include potential crimes by the Iranian state in the latest uprising, Sato said.

President Donald Trump at one point suggested he would intervene in the Iranian protests before backing off. Speaking at the World Economic Forum in Davos on Thursday, he said talks with Tehran could resume.

“Iran does want to talk, and we’ll talk,” he said.