World

Hundreds killed in Iran protests, UN rights office says

Jan 13, 2026

Image from a morgue after a crackdown on protesters in Iran's capital — Over 500 people have been killed in Iran's crackdown, the UN says, but the toll may be much higher. -AP

The UN human ‍rights chief is "horrified" by mounting violence by Iran's security forces against peaceful protesters, with the UN citing ⁠its own sources as saying that hundreds have been killed so far.

Hold tight - we’re checking permissions before loading more content

The Islamic Republic's clerical authorities are facing the biggest demonstrations since 2022 and on Sunday a rights group said ‌that unrest has killed more than 500 people.

An Iranian official ‍indicated on Tuesday it was higher, about 2000.

"This cycle of horrific violence cannot continue. The Iranian people and their demands for fairness, equality and justice must be heard," UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Volker Turk ‌said in a statement read out on Tuesday by UN rights office spokesperson Jeremy Laurence.

Asked to comment on the scale of the ‍killings, Laurence, citing the United Nations' sources in Iran, said: "The number that we're hearing is hundreds."

Turk also voiced concern that the death penalty might be used against thousands of protesters who have been arrested.

The unrest has prompted US President Donald Trump to reissue threats to intervene militarily on behalf of Iran's protesters.

"There's concern that (the protests) have been instrumentalised, and they shouldn't be instrumentalised by anyone," Laurence said on a ‍possible US intervention.