Mass killings continue as situation remains grim in Iran amid anti-Khamenei protests 

New York, Jan 17 (IANS) The protests in Iran, which started in December last year, are continuing to escalate despite the large-scale mass killings of the demonstrators across the nation.  

According to the US-based Human Rights Activists News Agency (HRANA), by Wednesday, the death toll in the nationwide crackdown by Iranian security forces on the protestors climbed to 2614.

Meanwhile, as per the Norway-based organisation Iran Human Rights (IHR), at least 3,428 protesters have been killed.

However, the Iranian government has not released an official death toll, but confirmed that over 100 security officials have been killed in clashes with protesters.

Opposition leaders and activists, however, claimed that the death toll is much higher and includes over 1000 protesters.

US-based advocacy group Human Rights Watch (HRW) have also raised alarm over the situation of the protests, which escalated since January 8.

The protests, which initially erupted on December 28, 2025, from two markets in the Iranian capital Tehran over rising inflation and the steep fall in the value of the rial, have since transformed into a nationwide agitation.

The demonstrations reflect growing anger against the clerical establishment led by Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, amid economic distress and public resentment.

"The mass killings by Iranian security forces since January 8 are unprecedented in the country and a stark reminder that rulers who massacre their own people will keep committing atrocities until they are held to account," said Lama Fakih, program director at HRW.

"United Nations member states should urgently convene a special UN Human Rights Council session to put human rights and accountability in Iran front and centre of the international response," she added.

Citing verified videos that began circulating on January 11, the HRW stated that body bags and bodies were piled up in and around the Forensic Diagnostic and Laboratory Centre in Iran's Kahrizak district.

According to the human rights organisation, the dead bodies were placed there for families to identify their loved ones.

The HRW added that it counted at least 400 bodies visible in several videos from that site alone, a figure it said was likely to be an undercount as bodies were piled on top of each other, making counting difficult.

"The horrific images of families sifting through hundreds of body bags in an open-air morgue should shock the conscience of the world to take action to hold those responsible, including at the highest levels, accountable," Fakih said.

The HRW cited witness interviews describing Iranian security forces using lethal force against unarmed protesters in various provinces.

"The wide-scale, unjustified use of lethal force resulting in mass killings of protesters and bystanders indicates that the authorities have deliberately and unlawfully used firearms as state policy," said the rights body

Additionally, the HRW highlighted that Iranian authorities have "withheld bodies of victims, denied families the right to bury and mourn their loved ones in a dignified manner, and, in some cases, buried the bodies without the families' knowledge or consent at locations demanded by officials".

The HRW called on the United Nations member states to immediately convene a special session of the UN Human Rights Council, where they should make clear that those responsible for grave human rights violations across Iran will be held accountable.

--IANS

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