Iranian authorities have detained more than 50,000 people nationwide in the weeks since security forces crushed mass protests that erupted in late December 2025 and peaked on January 8–9, 2026, according to a U.S. based rights group.
Scope of the arrests
The Human Rights Activists News Agency (HRANA) reports that 52,941 people have been detained across Iran in connection with the protests, while also documenting over 7,000 people killed, including more than 200 security personnel. Arrests have swept through major cities and rural areas, affecting university students, doctors, lawyers, children, and reformist political figures, in what rights monitors describe as a nationwide dragnet.
Methods and conditions
Security forces have used municipal cameras, shop surveillance, drone footage, and other digital tools to identify participants and then detain them at their homes or workplaces, often holding them incommunicado and denying timely access to lawyers or family. Internet blackouts and communication restrictions have made it difficult to track detainees, leaving families searching for relatives amid reports of arbitrary detention, torture, and enforced disappearances.
Political and international response
The crackdown has also targeted reformist politicians and civic activists who criticized the leadership, as authorities extend arrests beyond street protesters to perceived organizers and sympathizers. The European Parliament has passed a resolution by 524 votes to 3 condemning Iran’s “systemic oppression, inhumane conditions and arbitrary detentions,” warning that documented abuses during the protests may amount to crimes against humanity and urging tougher sanctions and accountability mechanisms.
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