Iran’s Executions Have Not Stopped

Iranians are dying in their thousands, but the anti-regime movement endures nonetheless.

The death toll from the latest protest wave is now estimated to have surpassed 36,000. Although the massacre has thinned out protests, the regime has entered a new phase. Repression now extends beyond pressuring victims’ families and healthcare workers to the confiscation of hundreds of Starlink devices as internet outages persist. Security forces are murdering wounded protesters in hospitals and executing political prisoners.

In carrying out these bloody acts, Tehran has crossed President Donald Trump’s stated red line. The message to Washington is unambiguous: the regime does not intend to change its behavior despite threats or human rights sanctions.

Regime Executes Protesters in Hospitals and Arrests Medical Workers

The killing of unarmed protesters did not stop in the streets. Health care staff from multiple hospitals across several provinces reported that many protesters were shot in the head while receiving medical treatment. Others recalled security forces raiding intensive care units to kill or detain wounded patients. Hospital workers also said that facilities and morgues became so overcrowded with corpses that the authorities resorted to dumping the dead in mass graves.

Security forces have also arrested doctors and volunteer aid workers who treated wounded protesters, raided their homes and clinics, and deliberately blocked access to medical care to ensure injured protesters were left to die.

Execution of Political Prisoners Persists

The judiciary’s official outlet, Mizan News Agency, reported on January 24 that authorities executed two men who were arrested in 2023 and convicted on security charges. In a separate case, two cousins were executed at Shiraz’s Adelabad Prison on January 1. They were arrested two years ago, accused of killing a law enforcement officer.

The Islamic Republic’s top prosecutor rejected President Trump’s claim that U.S. threats had halted the execution of more than 800 protesters, saying the judiciary had made no such decision. This sent a deliberate signal that repression is policy driven and will not be moderated by the number of detainees facing death sentences.

The regime’s judiciary chief earlier vowed “no mercy” for protesters, branding them “terrorists,” an offense punishable by death. Figures vary because of internet outages and the recency of events, but estimates suggest roughly 27,000 people have been arrested in recent weeks, facing the death penalty in a system that  already carries out the world’s highest number of executions per capita.

Authorities Seize Assets of All Protestors

Iran’s attorney general had instructed judicial officers and prosecutors nationwide to identify the assets of strikers and report them to local prosecutor’s offices, calling it a “lesson-teaching” measure. Parliamentarians echoed the threat, saying the assets of prominent protest supporters would be seized “so that no one dares to threaten” the regime. 

Tehran’s provincial prosecutor said cases were opened against 15 athletes and actors and 10 signatories of a state by the House of Cinema, Iran’s main film industry guild. State television reported that 60 coffee shops were flagged for alleged support of what it called “terrorist acts.” The judiciary in the province of Qom also announced the seizure of a prominent entrepreneur’s assets, including bank accounts, after accusing him of backing strikes and protests.

Strikes Limited to Military Sites Risk Alienating Iranians

With the United States deploying military assets to the region, President Trump declaring that an “armada” is heading toward the Middle East, and U.S. forces conducting multi-day aerial exercises, the regime in Tehran is on high alert. Limiting any campaign to military and ballistic missile sites risks alienating the Middle East’s largest anti-Islamist movement within one of its most pro-American societies. Targeting the apparatus of repression is the only way to shift the balance of power away from the regime and its armed proxies and toward Iranians. Such a campaign would require precise public messaging toward Iranians, so that a kinetic operation does not deter the public but instead encourages them to assume control on the ground.

Janatan Sayeh is a research analyst at the Foundation for Defense of Democracies (FDD), where he focuses on Iranian domestic affairs and the Islamic Republic’s regional malign influence. For more analysis from the author and FDD, please subscribe HERE. Follow Janatan on X @JanatanSayeh. Follow FDD on X @FDD and @FDD_Iran. FDD is a Washington, DC-based, nonpartisan research institute focusing on national security and foreign policy.