cross-posted from: https://scribe.disroot.org/post/9446418
The deadly crackdown on the December 2025-January 2026 anti-regime protests saw many Iranians killed, tracked or detained. The US-Israel war on Iran has intensified the repression, but it has not stopped families from trying to trace their missing loved ones or from seeking justice for people who have disappeared into prisons and juvenile correction centres across the country.
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The war broke out just a few weeks after the latest protests, which were initially driven by deteriorating living conditions, before evolving into a widespread movement challenging the regime. The conflict has also disrupted efforts by several Iranian NGOs outside the country to document the scale of the crackdown.
In a comprehensive report published in late February, the Virginia-based NGO, Human Rights Activists in Iran (HRAI), recorded 6,488 confirmed and verified deaths of protesters. An additional 11,744 cases remain “under review and are not included in confirmed totals", the report noted.
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Dozens of protesters arrested during the December-January uprisings have been charged with attacking security forces or trespassing on military installations and sentenced to death. Some have already been executed.
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The detainees also include minors. In a report on the repression of schoolchildren, the New York-based Center for Human Rights in Iran states that hundreds of children have been arbitrarily detained, subjected to enforced disappearance, and denied access to their families and legal counsel. The NGO reported that at least 216 children had been killed during the protests.
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[There are also] reports on the case of Diana Taherabadi, a 16-year-old high school student, who was arrested at her home in late January and is being held at the Kachoui Juvenile Rehabilitation and Correctional Centre.
“Sources close to the student's family have reported that confessions were extracted from her during her detention, a claim that has not been independently verified. However, during her judicial hearing, she rejected the charges brought against her and stated that she played no role in the matters attributed to her,” the media outlet reported.
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These cases contradict statements by Iran’s Education Ministry spokesperson Ali Farhadi, who told the official ISNA news agency in early February that “thanks to the Iranian education minister’s oversight, no student remained in detention from the very first days of the unrest".
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Despite the risks, families continue to demand justice and pay tribute to the victims of the state’s crackdown. Last week, relatives of Pajman Norooz Rajabi gathered at the spot where the 27-year-old athlete was killed by security forces on January 8 in Tonekabon, a northern Iranian city, formerly known as Shahsavar, located on the Caspian coast.
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