Anti-government protests in Iran have entered their third week, accompanied by harsh repression and the country’s near-total isolation from the outside world. Authorities have kept the internet blocked for more than 160 hours, making it extremely difficult to verify reports of deaths and detentions.
According to the rights group HRANA, as of January 14 at least 2,615 people had been confirmed killed, including 2,435 protesters and 13 children under 18. At least 18,470 people were detained, and demonstrations were recorded in 187 cities.
US President Donald Trump said he had been informed that Iran had stopped killing protesters and had canceled planned executions. AFP reported that Saudi Arabia, Qatar, and Oman had urged Washington not to strike and to give Tehran a chance to show goodwill.
“We are fully in control of the situation... and we will not allow a high level of tension that could have catastrophic consequences for الجميع,” Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi told Fox News.
Araghchi rejected reports of thousands of deaths and claimed the authorities had faced not peaceful demonstrators but armed “terrorist elements” acting, in his account, in Israel’s interests. At the same time, witnesses cited by The New York Times described snipers on rooftops in central Tehran firing at protesters. Some residents have managed brief internet access through Starlink.
Particular attention has focused on the case of 26-year-old Erfan Soltani, detained in Fardis. His relatives said a death sentence was issued in just two days, without access to a lawyer or contact with his family. The rights group Hengaw said it had never seen a case move so quickly.
On January 15, the UN Security Council scheduled an emergency meeting on Iran at the request of the United States. Earlier reports said a US carrier strike group was being moved toward the Middle East, some Western personnel were withdrawn from regional bases, and the British embassy in Tehran was temporarily closed. The unrest began on December 28, 2025 as protests over economic conditions and soon escalated into mass demonstrations demanding the fall of the ruling system.