The internet in Iran has been largely shut down since January 8. There is no planned date for a complete restoration of the connection, Deputy Interior Minister Ali Akbar Pourjamshidian said on state television on Wednesday,
He is also secretary of the National Security Council, which has accused “arch enemies” Israel and the United States of numerous “acts of terrorism” committed across the country on the nights of January 8 and 9. This was a continuation of the “imposed war” of June 2025, the council claimed.
The official death toll from the mass protests that began in late December was also released on Wednesday. According to these figures, 3,117 people have been killed. Of these, 2,427 were “innocent people and guardians of order and security” who were deemed martyrs.
Bereaved families will receive support from the Foundation for Martyrs and War Veterans of Iran, Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi also announced. The state institution provides financial assistance to families of those killed or missing in action, along with disabled veterans.
Pressuring families
Relatives of demonstrators who have been killed report that the authorities exerted massive pressure on them before releasing their bodies. The bereaved were required to sign a statement calling the dead voluntary members of the Basij militia. The Basij is under the command of the Revolutionary Guard and instrumental in the suppression of the protests.
Those who refuse to sign this statement have to pay a large sum of “bullet money,” as one source named Farazaneh told DW. She learned from her relatives by telephone that her nephew had been killed on January 8. His parents refused to sign the statement, and in response officials demanded money for the release of the body.
Human rights organizations believe that the actual number of victims is significantly higher than the what officials have named so far. In a report dated January 22, Norway-based Iran Human Rights estimates that there have been more than 25,000 deaths. The organization has documented 3,428 cases so far.
“Our statistics are based on the documentation standards of human rights organizations. They must either be confirmed by two independent sources, or our organization must have direct access to a very reliable source,” director Mahmood Amiry-Moghaddam told DW. “Some of these statistics include direct reports from victims as well as information from the medical field and reliable sources known to us.”
The communication blackout is making human rights work considerably more difficult. Currently, Iranians can only contact the outside world via landlines with very high fees. But it remains impossible to contact people from the outside.
HRANA, the US-based news agency for Human Rights Activists in Iran, reported 4,519 confirmed deaths at the beginning of the week, with more than 9,000 additional cases still under investigation.
Injuries going unreported
These cases do not include numerous demonstrators who were injured by live ammunition. Fearing repression, many are reportedly avoiding medical facilities.
Iranian doctors abroad report conversations with colleagues in Iran who say that hospitals in many cities are seeing a dramatic increase in gunshot wounds, especially to the eyes.
Amir Mobarez Parasta, an Iranian-German eye surgeon and head of an eye center in Munich, told DW that he had learned that around 7,000 serious eye injuries had been recorded in a specialized eye hospital in Tehran alone by January 16.
Parasta, who treated numerous demonstrators who fled to Germany with eye injuries after the nationwide protests in 2022 following the death of Jina Mahsa Amini, emphasized that the injured must be treated by specialists as quickly as possible.
“There are medical protocols in Iranian hospitals, and medical staff generally refrain from reporting cases that could later be used for criminal prosecution,” he said. “We already observed this during the Mahsa movement. Fortunately, medical staff are siding with the protesters.”
The latest wave of protests in Iran was triggered by a worsening economic crisis and rising inflation, quickly growing nationwide to encompass wider resistance to the authoritarian political system. The regime has responded with massive, brutal force.
With reporting by Elina Farhadi. This article was originally written in German.
