Iranian authorities are committing possible crimes against humanity through mass killings and arbitrary arrests of peaceful protesters. Various populations, including women, girls and members of ethnic and religious minorities, remain at heightened risk of systematic human rights violations.

BACKGROUND:

On 28 December 2025 demonstrations erupted across Iran in response to a deepening economic crisis following the collapse of the national currency and soaring inflation. In the following days, the demonstrations evolved into a nationwide movement opposing the government and its repressive policies. Iranian authorities responded with a violent crackdown, during which security forces – including police units and the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps – have committed unlawful use of force and mass arbitrary arrests.

The UN Independent International Fact-Finding Mission (FFMI) on the Islamic Republic of Iran reviewed footage showing security forces opening fire on protesters. The FFMI has also received footage of unlawful use of force in ethnic minority provinces – including Lorestan and Ilam – which have historically endured some of the most brutal crackdowns. Thousands of protesters have been killed and detained, including at least 113 children. Verification remains difficult as the Iranian authorities imposed a near-total internet shutdown and communications blackout beginning on 8 January to isolate protesters and suppress mobilization. Amnesty International has reviewed evidence indicating a coordinated, nationwide crackdown by security forces since that date.

Iranian officials used dangerous rhetoric against protesters, labeling them “terrorists,” threatening “no leniency” and deeming all “rioters” an “enemy of God,” an offense punishable by death. Soon afterwards, widespread reports of the imminent execution of several detained protesters prompted global condemnation, compelling Iran’s foreign minister, Abbas Araghchi, to state that executions would not take place. Iran’s judiciary has vowed to accelerate trials against those arrested during the protests, raising due process concerns.

The current crackdown is not an isolated event but part of a decades-long pattern of lethal force used against protesters challenging repression and deteriorating living conditions. During the 2022-2023 “Women, Life, Freedom” nationwide protests, security forces similarly wielded unnecessary and disproportionate force, killing at least 500 people. In March 2023 the UN Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights in the Islamic Republic of Iran, Javaid Rehman, concluded that the state’s violent, widespread clampdown on protesters may amount to crimes against humanity, including murder, imprisonment, enforced disappearances, torture, rape and sexual violence and persecution. The following year, the FFMI concluded that Iranian authorities perpetrated the crime against humanity of gender persecution.

Iran is also among the countries with the highest number of executions annually and has a documented history of arbitrary executions, in contravention of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, which limits capital punishment to the “most serious of crimes.” Authorities have executed protesters, minors, political dissidents and individuals accused of drug-related offenses. In 2025 at least 1,500 Iranians were reportedly executed – some 47 percent of which were due to drug-related offenses – marking the highest number of executions in a decade and surpassing the 901 executions recorded in 2024. The UN High Commissioner for Human Rights has stressed that “the scale and pace of executions suggest a systematic use of capital punishment as a tool of State intimidation, with disproportionate impact on ethnic minorities and migrants.”

Economic hardship, which is tied with human rights violations, has been a key driver of popular discontent. Iran has been subject to a complex and evolving sanctions regime for nearly five decades – largely led by the United States (US) – which has devastated living standards for Iranians. The reimposition of significant economic sanctions in 2018 by the US further exacerbated these conditions. Human rights experts and organizations have warned that unilateral coercive measures have undermined Iranians’ basic human rights. In 2018 former UN Special Rapporteur, Idriss Jazairy, also stressed that the reimposed sanctions were “unjust and harmful,” warning that they were “destroying the economy and currency of Iran, driving millions of people into poverty.”  In 2022 several UN human rights experts reiterated that US sanctions prevent Iranians from enjoying their human rights – including the rights to a clean environment, health and to life.

RECENT DEVELOPMENTS:

In early January US President Donald Trump announced he was considering military intervention in Iran following the crackdown on protesters and declared on 12 January that the US would impose a 25 percent tariff on imports from countries conducting trade with Iran. Several key allies of the US, including Saudi Arabia, Qatar and Egypt reportedly urged restraint due to concerns over regional destabilization.

The United Kingdom, Canada, France and the European Union, among others, called on the Iranian authorities to uphold their “responsibility to protect their own population.” Spain has condemned Iran’s response to protests, urging the authorities return to dialogue and negotiation, while Japan called for an “immediate cessation of hostilities.” On 15 January the UN Security Council (UNSC) convened an emergency meeting on Iran at the request of the US, during which Colombia and Pakistan warned against the consequences of unilateral use of force.

On 23 January the UN Human Rights Council (HRC) held a Special Session on the deteriorating human rights situation and adopted a resolution mandating the FFMI to conduct an urgent investigation into the Iranian government’s repression against the recent protests and present its findings at the Council’s 63^rd session. In addition, the HRC extended the mandate of the FFMI for two additional years and the mandate of the Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights in Iran for another year.

ANALYSIS:

Years of impunity has shielded Iranian authorities from accountability for its brutality against dissidents, human rights defenders, journalists and minorities, emboldening repeated cycles of widespread state violence against those challenging repression and economic hardship. Iran’s economic crisis cannot be disentangled from the state’s longstanding pattern of repression and human rights violations, as well as international sanctions which have impoverished millions and negatively impacted the enjoyment of their fundamental rights.

Dangerous rhetoric by Iranian officials risks blanket criminalization of those who participated in protests, as well as bystanders. Thousands remain detained, raising concerns of rushed trials, coercive confessions, denial of legal representation and torture and other forms of ill-treatment.

Although authorities have indicated they plan on restoring internet access, the ongoing shutdown risks being extended should the authorities seek to block independent reporting and monitoring. The situation in Iran underscores that uniliteral coercive action, including the threat or use of force, risks dangerous escalation and broader regional instability. Any attempts to sideline coordinated, principled responses by the international community in favor of such actions would further erode prospects for justice and accountability.

RISK ASSESSMENT:

• • • Widespread and coordinated unlawful use of force by military and security forces to suppress dissent.
    • Legal and institutional infrastructure weaponized and designed to silence anti-government sentiments, enabling the state to carry out repression under the guise of legality.
    • Increasing use of the death penalty, including for unlawful arbitrary executions.
    • Institutionalized discrimination against women, girls and members of religious and ethnic minorities.
    • Ongoing impunity for cycles of deadly crackdowns against protesters, including crimes against humanity.

NECESSARY ACTION:

Iranian authorities must immediately halt all violence against protesters, release those detained for exercising their human rights and ensure compliance with international human rights standards. Access to the internet and communications must be fully restored.

The international community must collectively and unequivocally condemn Iran’s crackdown against protesters. The FFMI should include an assessment of possible atrocity crimes into its broader, urgent investigation into the state’s crackdown. HRC members should ensure the FFMI is equipped with adequate resources.

States must address Iran’s long-standing impunity for serious human rights violations and atrocities, including by advancing criminal accountability for Iranian officials allegedly responsible for crimes against humanity. The UNSC should ensure Iran remains on its agenda and support a referral to the International Criminal Court. Member states should exercise universal jurisdiction to initiate criminal investigations against Iranian officials responsible for the recent crackdown.