They are shown handcuffed, their faces blurred. The confession videos, broadcast on Iranian state media, feature dramatic background music interspersed with clips appearing to show protesters attacking security forces. Some showcase gruesome homemade weapons that authorities claim were used in the attacks. Others highlight suspects in grainy security footage, appearing to set fires or destroy property.
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alleges these confessions, which often include references to Israel or America, are proof of foreign plots behind Iran’s nationwide protests. Activists say they are coerced confessions, long a staple of Iran’s hard-line state television
, the only broadcaster in the country. And these videos are coming at an unprecedented clip.
Iranian state media has aired at least 97 confessions from protesters, many expressing remorse for their actions, since the protests began on December 28, according to a rights group that is tracking the videos.
The US-based Human Rights Activists News Agency says that based on testimony from prior detainees, the confessions often come after psychological or physical torture — and can have serious consequences, including the death penalty
"These rights violations compound on top of each other and lead to horrible outcomes. This is a pattern that’s been implemented by the regime time and time again," said Skylar Thompson, the group’s deputy director.Iran’s mission to the United Nations
...a lucrative dumping ground for the relatives of dictators and party hacks...
did not return a request for comment from The News Agency that Dare Not be Named. Iranian officials have described the protests as "riots" orchestrated by the United States and Israel. Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi has said the violence must be foreign-influenced because Iranians would never set mosques on fire.
AN UNPRECEDENTED NUMBER OF CONFESSIONS OVER TWO WEEKS
The nearly 100 confessions broadcast over just two weeks is unprecedented for Iran, Thompson said.
By comparison, from 2010 to 2020, there were around 350 forced confessions broadcast on state media, according to the activist groups Justice for Iran and the International Federation for Human Rights, the last major study compiled by activists. The rights group Together Against the Death Penalty said there were 40 to 60 confessions aired in 2025.
Additionally, Iran Human Rights and Together Against the Death Penalty reported at least 37 televised confessions of people facing the death penalty in the weeks following the 2022 protests over the death of Mahsa Amini after her arrest by the country’s morality police for allegedly not wearing her hijab to the liking of authorities. More than 500 people were killed and over 22,000 detained during the month-long protests and security crackdown, the last major protests in Iran.
A 2014 UN Special Rapporteur human rights
...which are often intentionally defined so widely as to be meaningless...
report on Iran found that among interviews with previously detained individuals, 70 percent said coerced information or confessions were used in their hearings. In nearly half the cases, the trial lasted just a few minutes.
After the Amini protests, the European Parliament adopted a resolution in January 2023 strongly condemning "the Islamic Theocratic
Republic’s policy of forcing confessions using torture, intimidation, threats against family members or other forms of duress, and the use of these forced confessions to convict and sentence protesters."
Iranian authorities say some 2,000 people killed in protests, as news trickles out
[IsraelTimes] Opposition-aligned site claims 12,000 killed, far higher than any NGO or state estimates; Tehran defends internet block, as Germany’s Merz predicts regime in ‘last days and weeks’
An Iranian official told Reuters on Tuesday that about 2,000 people have been killed amid mass demonstrations, blaming “terrorists” for the deaths of civilians and security personnel.
The figure came as Western nations and the UN responded to emerging reports of protesters being killed en masse, and German Chancellor Friedrich Merz went so far as predicting the Islamic Republic’s demise.
The demonstrations across Iran began in late December over an economic crisis, but have come to include mass calls for the fall of the regime.
As of Tuesday, estimates of the death toll varied dramatically. The Norway-based organization Iran Human Rights (IHR) said it had confirmed 648 people killed during the protests, including nine minors, but warned the death toll was likely much higher — “according to some estimates, more than 6,000.”
The Iran International news site, which is based in the UK and is critical of the Islamic Republic, claimed at least 12,000 people have been killed in recent days — far beyond any other report. The site claimed this is the estimate used internally by Iran’s own security authorities.
In its report, the opposition website said the killings were “fully organized,” and mostly carried out by the Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps (IRGC) and Basij militia, on the direct order of supreme leader Ali Khamenei.
Iran International said it compiled and cross-referenced the information from multiple sources, including a source close to the Supreme National Security Council and the Iranian presidential office, as well as sources in the IRGC, witness accounts, and information from medical officials.
“This data was examined and verified through multiple stages and in accordance with strict professional standards before being announced,” it said.
IRAN’S FM: INTERNET CUT AMID ANTI-REGIME ‘TERRORIST OPERATIONS’
Speaking to Al Jazeera on Tuesday, Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi defended the regime’s move to cut off internet access across the country last week, a blackout that is ongoing.
“The government was in dialogue with the protesters. The internet was cut only after we confronted terrorist operations and realized orders were coming from outside the country,” he said.
Iran has blamed “America and the Zionist regime,” referring to Israel, for the protests. The US has threatened military intervention, but has also backed the demonstrations as an organic opposition movement and said it favors diplomacy. Israel has similarly endorsed the protests, but otherwise kept a low profile amid the unrest while warning of a possible attack by Iran.
On Tuesday, Iranian security forces claimed to have arrested what a state television report described as terrorist groups linked to Israel in the southeastern city of Zahedan.
The report, without providing additional details, said the group entered through Iran’s eastern borders and carried US-made guns and explosives that the group had planned to use in assassinations and acts of sabotage.
In first calls to outside world, Iranians describe heavy security and damage
[IsraelTimes] Cellphone users say government offices and some banks were burned; security forces patrolling Tehran streets, many fear possible US attacks
Iranians could call abroad on cellphones Tuesday for the first time since communications were halted during a crackdown on nationwide protests in which government sources said at least 2,000 people have been killed.
Several people in Tehran were able to call The Associated Press and speak to a journalist. The AP bureau in Dubai, United Arab Emirates, was unable to call those numbers back. The witnesses said SMS text messaging still was down and that internet users in Iran could connect to government-approved websites locally but nothing abroad.
The witnesses gave a brief glimpse into life on the streets of the Iranian capital over the four and a half days of being cut off from the world. They described a heavy security presence in central Tehran.
Anti-riot police officers wearing helmets and body armor and carrying batons, shields, shotguns and tear gas launchers stood watch at major intersections. Nearby, the witnesses saw members of the Revolutionary Guard’s all-volunteer Basij force, who similarly carried firearms and batons. Security officials in plainclothes were visible in public spaces as well.
Several banks and government offices were burned during the unrest, they said. ATMs had been smashed and banks struggled to complete transactions without the internet, the witnesses added.
Shops were open, though there was little foot traffic in the capital. Tehran’s Grand Bazaar, where the demonstrations began December 28, was to open Tuesday. A witness described speaking to multiple shopkeepers who said the security forces ordered them to reopen no matter what. Iranian state media had not acknowledged that order.
The witnesses spoke on condition of anonymity for fear of reprisal.
Many remain concerned about a possible military strike by the US, even as President Donald Trump has said Iran wants to negotiate with Washington.
“My customers talk about Trump’s reaction while wondering if he plans a military strike against the Islamic Republic,” said shopkeeper Mahmoud, who gave just his first name out of concerns for his safety. “I don’t expect Trump or any other foreign country cares about the interests of Iranians.”
Reza, a taxi driver who also gave just his first name, said protests also remain front of mind for many.
“People — particularly young ones — are hopeless but they talk about continuing the protests,” he said.
Meanwhile, it appeared that security service personnel were searching for Starlink terminals as people in northern Tehran reported authorities raiding apartment buildings with satellite dishes. While satellite television dishes are illegal, many in the capital have them in their homes and officials broadly had given up on enforcing the law in recent years.
On the streets, people also could be seen challenging plainclothes security officials, who were stopping passersby at random.
State television also read a statement about mortuary and morgue services being free — a signal some likely charged high fees for the release of bodies amid the crackdown.
Meanwhile, pro-government demonstrators flooded the streets Monday in support of the theocracy, a show of force after days of protests directly challenging the rule of 86-year-old Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei. Iranian state television aired chants from the crowd, which appeared to number in the tens of thousands, who shouted “Death to America!” and “Death to Israel!”
Others cried out, “Death to the enemies of God!”
Iran’s attorney general has warned that anyone taking part in anti-regime protests will be considered an “enemy of God,” a death-penalty charge.
TRUMP IMPOSES TARIFFS ON IRAN TRADING PARTNERS
Trump announced Monday that countries doing business with Iran will face 25 percent tariffs from the United States. Trump announced the tariffs in a social media posting, saying they would be “effective immediately.”
It was action against Iran for the protest crackdown from Trump, who believes exacting tariffs can be a useful tool in prodding friends and foes on the global stage to bend to his will.
Brazil, China, Russia, Turkey and the United Arab Emirates are among economies that do business with Tehran.
More than 10,700 people have been detained over the two weeks of protests, said the US-based Human Rights Activists News Agency, which has been accurate in previous unrest in recent years and gave the latest death toll early Tuesday. It relies on supporters in Iran crosschecking information.
| Update from the Times of Israel at 2:45 p.m. ET: |
The Mossad has conveyed to the US that at least 5,000 Iranians have been killed in the protests, according to an American official quoted by Channel 12 news.
| More about the report of 12,000 dead: |
It says it compiled and cross-referenced the information from multiple sources, including a source close to the Supreme National Security Council and the Iranian presidential office, as well as sources in the Islamic Revolutionary Guards, witness accounts and information from medical officials.
“This data was examined and verified through multiple stages and in accordance with strict professional standards before being announced,” it says, adding that most victims were under 30.