2026/01/21HRANA: 12 Executions Reported Across Iran Amid Information Blackout
Human rights outlet HRANA said at least 12 prisoners were executed on Wednesday, Jan. 21, 2026 (1 Bahman 1404) in prisons across Khorramabad, Mahabad, Sabzevar, Kashmar, Bushehr, Chabahar, Mashhad, Shahrekord, Damghan, Shiraz, and Malayer , adding that the convictions related mainly to drug and murder charges and that authorities had not officially announced the executions at the time of reporting. HRANA noted that the ongoing internet shutdown and severe limits on reporting have sharply reduced independent access to case details and fair-trial assessments. Separately, HRANA-linked reporting on 2025 indicates a major surge in executions— at least 1,922 recorded for Jan. 1–Dec. 20, 2025 , while HRANA has also cited at least 2,063 executions for the Jan. 1, 2025–Jan. 1, 2026 period—underscoring both scale and opacity.
2026/01/21Alvand Protest Death Reported; Claims of “Ransom” for Bodies
Rights group Tavaana reported that Mohammad-Hossein Khalaj , a man in his 20s from Alvand (Qazvin) , was fatally shot with live ammunition during the protest period (reported around 17–18 Dey 1404 / mid-January 2026 ). Citing a local source, the report alleges some families were pressured to pay 300 million tomans as “bullet costs” and up to 1 billion tomans to retrieve bodies—while other bodies were not returned. Khalaj was reportedly buried on 20 Dey under heavy security presence; limited information says he worked at a juice-and-ice-cream shop on Sohrevardi Street and was shot directly there.
2026/01/21A Medical Student’s Message Alleges Ransom for Bodies and Forced “Basij” Burials
A medical student in Iran, in an urgent message sent to his sister abroad during a brief return of internet access, alleged a sweeping crackdown that includes home raids, confiscation of phones and satellite equipment, and intimidation that has made people afraid to carry a mobile outside. He claimed a top-ranked medical sciences student in Mashhad was killed by a bullet, and the family was told to pay 700 million tomans to receive the body—then pressured to sign a form stating the victim was a Basij member , under threat of being denied burial and having the body placed in a mass grave. The student said similar cases are recurring, describing a pattern of financial extortion and forced reclassification of victims to obscure the scale of killings. He also alleged most street participants were hit with pellets, tear gas, and paintballs, while the deadliest shootings escalated after 11 p.m. , and claimed some bank arsons were carried out by government-linked agents to build cases and justify repression—citing one alleged incident in Mashhad where a suspected attacker had a radio under his clothes.
2026/01/21Report: Mother of Two Killed in Chaf During Iran Protests
Human-rights and activist outlets reported that Sholeh Setoudeh , 38, a mother of two from Chaf (Langarud County, Gilan), was killed during local protests, with some accounts placing the incident around 20 Dey 1404 and attributing her death to gunfire by security forces. Details remain difficult to independently verify amid information restrictions and reliance on social-media reporting.
2026/01/21Iran Internet Blackout Deepens as Officials Drop Timeline
Ali-Akbar Pourjamshidian, the Interior Ministry’s security deputy and secretary of the National Security Council, said on state TV that there is no clear timing for restoring internet access. The shutdown has now lasted more than 3,000 hours , cutting off connectivity for over 90 million people. Internet infrastructure analyst Doug Madory wrote on X that Iran is experiencing one of the world’s most severe outages, noting that core IPv4 routes were not withdrawn from BGP —meaning Iran remained technically reachable while traffic was effectively blocked at the network edge. The statement contrasts with earlier comments from Vice President for Science Hossein Afshin, who said internet access would return to normal by the end of the week, and with reports that President Masoud Pezeshkian urged Ali Larijani to lift restrictions quickly.
2026/01/21Iran’s Martyrs Foundation Claims 3,117 Dead in 1404 Protests
Iran’s Martyrs and Veterans Affairs Foundation released what it called preliminary figures for the 1404 nationwide protests, putting total deaths at 3,117 and classifying 2,427 of them as “martyrs.” After the number circulated, the secretary of Iran’s national security council claimed the remaining 690 were “terrorists,” “rioters,” or people who attacked military sites. The protests began on 7 Dey 1404 over economic grievances, quickly escalated into explicitly anti-regime demonstrations, and peaked on 18–19 Dey following a call by Prince Reza Pahlavi ; reports of a violent crackdown intensified alongside a full internet shutdown and broader communication restrictions.
2026/01/21Iran Lawyer Arrested as Crackdown Targets Rights Defenders
IranWire reported that attorney and human-rights activist Mohammad-Hadi Jafarpour was arrested on Jan. 18, 2026 (28 Dey 1404) and transferred to Adelabad prison ; a separate legal-rights monitor (Dadban) described the facility as Shiraz Central Prison (Adelabad) . The case comes amid a wider wave of arrests and judicial pressure on lawyers, including recent detentions such as Shima Ghooseh and Osman Mazin , according to the same reporting.
2026/01/21Front Line Defenders: Iran “Targeting” Rights Defenders in Protest Crackdown
Front Line Defenders said on January 21, 2026 (1 Bahman 1404) it is alarmed by the targeted pursuit, arrests, and judicial pressure on human rights defenders amid Iran’s crackdown on nationwide protests. The group condemned the arrest of women’s rights defender and lawyer Shima Ghooseh on January 16, 2026 (26 Dey 1404) following a raid on her home in Tehran, and said lawyers Nazanin Salari, Mahmoud Taravat-Roi, and Masoud Ahmadian are facing judicial harassment and criminalisation, while Seyed Mehdi Karimi Farsi has been detained in connection with the protest period. The organisation urged Iranian authorities to halt what it described as harassment, drop charges, and provide information on detainees’ whereabouts and safety.
2026/01/21Report: Former Iran Beach Soccer Goalkeeper Killed in Rasht Protests
Sports journalist Mojtaba Pourbakhsh said in a social-media post that Mohammad Hajipour , a former goalkeeper for Iran’s national beach soccer team, died during protests in Rasht . Iran International and IranWire also reported the death, citing information they said they had received, as the case adds to the growing toll reported around the nationwide unrest.
2026/01/21Iran Universities Move Final Exams Online as Tensions Persist
Several major universities—including Allameh Tabataba’i, the University of Tehran, Shahid Beheshti, Alzahra, Farhangian, and Sharif University of Technology—announced in separate statements that end-of-semester exams will be held online. Commenting on the decision, Ali Sharifi Zarchi wrote on X that the situation is “so normal” that, for the first time in history (outside the COVID period), the Ministry of Science has moved university finals online, adding that “after the massacre, nothing will be like before.” Sharif University also said its exams will be postponed by one week. The shift comes amid nationwide protests in which universities and student dormitories have been key sites of student demonstrations.
2026/01/21Farah Pahlavi: “No Turning Back” After Iran’s Protest Wave
Empress Farah Pahlavi, the widow of Iran’s last shah, said on January 21, 2026 (1 Bahman 1404) that after the latest nationwide protests against the Islamic Republic there is “no turning back,” arguing the trajectory is one-way and will ultimately lead to a free Iran. In an interview with Agence France-Presse, she addressed Iran’s youth, praising their courage for “writing a new chapter of history” with significance beyond Iran, and urged them to hold on to hope and resolve—saying they will prevail despite the imbalance of power.
2026/01/21US Urges Iran to Halt Execution of 19-Year-Old Protester Amirhossein Ghaderzadeh
The U.S. State Department condemned Iran’s death sentence for Amirhossein Ghaderzadeh (19) , calling it a sign the Islamic Republic is escalating repression to silence protesters, and urged an immediate توقف/وقف of the execution. The statement—posted by the State Department’s Persian-language account—frames the case as punishment for peaceful protest and comes amid wider international warnings about the use of capital punishment during Iran’s crackdown.
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