Tehran Wages War on Iran’s Youth and Women As More Victims of Regime Brutality Identified

Staff WriterJanuary 26, 2026
Tehran Wages War on Iran’s Youth and Women As More Victims of Regime Brutality Identified
As the nationwide uprising in Iran continues

Iran Protests – January 2026

Written by
Mansoureh Galestan

As the nationwide uprising in Iran continues to challenge the theocratic dictatorship, the human cost of the regime’s crackdown is coming into sharper focus. On Sunday, January 25, the People’s Mojahedin Organization of Iran (PMOI/MEK) verified the names of 88 additional martyrs, bringing the total number of identified martyrs in the January 2026 protests to 631.

The newly released list reveals a deliberate campaign of lethal force targeting the most vulnerable yet defiant segments of Iranian society. Among the 88 victims are 11 women and seven minors between the ages of 12 and 17. These include 12-year-old Samira Khani from Ramsar, 17-year-old Sina Lavasani from Shahr-e Rey, and 15-year-old Benyamin Mohammadi from Tehran. The data contradicts the regime’s narrative that its security forces are merely combating “rioters,” exposing instead a war waged against a generation demanding fundamental change.

Systematic Cruelty: Hostage Bodies and Blinded Eyes
Reports emerging from inside Iran indicate that the regime’s brutality extends beyond the moment of death. According to investigations by The Telegraph, authorities are systematically holding the bodies of slain protesters hostage in government morgues. Families are being blackmailed into signing false documents declaring that their children were members of the Basij militia killed by anti-government rioters.

One father, whose son “Milad” was killed, told reporters, “I will never sign their documents. The entire system is built on lies… I sacrificed my son for freedom.” This coercion attempts to distort the historical record, turning victims of state violence into martyrs for the very state that killed them.

Furthermore, the deliberate targeting of protesters’ eyes has reached catastrophic levels. Qasem Fakhraei, the head of Farabi Hospital, Iran’s largest ophthalmology center, was cited by the state-run ISNA news agency regarding a massive influx of patients on Friday, January 9. While the hospital typically saw about 55 eye injury cases from other cities in the days prior, the number skyrocketed to nearly 1,000 on that single day.

The situation was so critical that Maryam Sabbaghi, the hospital’s head nurse, reported that they ran out of beds. Patients were hospitalized on companion beds, and the facility was forced to borrow stretchers from other hospitals to treat the wounded in hallways.

Battlefield Reports: Kermanshah and Qarchak
Despite internet blackouts designed to mask the scale of the unrest, detailed reports from Resistance Units provide a window into the intensity of the clashes in early to mid-January.

In Kermanshah, the city effectively turned into a war zone. On December 30, strikes by bazaar merchants in the Mosaddegh and Nobahar districts rapidly escalated into street confrontations. By January 3, the dynamic on the ground shifted significantly. In the Jafarabad district, residents engaged in armed self-defense against regime forces who were firing tear gas and live ammunition. Reports indicate that in the ensuing crossfire, two suppressive agents were killed.

The regime deployed heavy weaponry to quell the population. By mid-January, security forces utilized drones to track crowds in real-time, dispatching units to crush gatherings before they could grow. In the Pardis district, protesters set fire to two police vans, while the regime responded by deploying vehicles mounted with heavy machine guns.

In Qarchak, southeast of Tehran, the nights of January 7 and 8 witnessed scenes reminiscent of martial law. The Police Station Square became a focal point of resistance. Unable to disperse the crowds on the ground, security forces resorted to shooting at protesters from rooftops and government buildings.

For a brief period, the relentless pressure from the uprising caused the regime’s control to fracture; reports confirm that the Governor’s office in Qarchak temporarily fell out of government control. The regime later attempted to conceal this defeat by erecting concrete barriers and walls around the government compound.

A Crisis of Legitimacy
The ferocity of the uprising has forced even state-affiliated experts to admit that the clerical dictatorship faces an existential crisis. In an article published on January 25 in the state-run Ettela’at newspaper, a regime expert acknowledged a “crisis of legitimacy” and the erosion of public trust.

The analysis noted a demographic shift in the protests, highlighting that the core of the uprising consists of “Generation Z” and women. The expert warned that this generation, facing unemployment and a lack of social freedom, has entered the field with “radical and explicit motivations,” signaling that the issue is no longer just about economics, but about a “crisis of identity” and a rejection of the status quo.

Meanwhile, the regime’s administration under Masoud Pezeshkian remains in denial. Following the adoption of a UN Human Rights Council resolution condemning the crackdown, government spokesperson Fatemeh Mohajerani dismissed the international censure as “political” and vowed not to allow “internal issues” to be used for pressure. This stance stands in stark contrast to the growing international isolation of Tehran, exemplified by the statement from the European People’s Party (EPP) Group in the European Parliament, which called the human rights situation “catastrophic” and demanded increased EU pressure.

The Unsilenced Dead
As the regime struggles to contain the unrest through violence and censorship, the message from the Iranian Resistance remains one of defiance. Mrs. Maryam Rajavi, President-elect of the National Council of Resistance of Iran (NCRI), addressed the nation regarding the January 2026 uprising, describing the fallen protesters as “the most alive among us.”

She noted that the funerals of the martyrs have themselves become venues for protest, with families and mourners chanting “Death to Khamenei” and “Death to the Dictator” over the graves of their loved ones. “Your thunderous cries… are a clear, direct, and unmistakable message to Khamenei the tyrant: there is no escape from overthrow,” Mrs. Rajavi stated.

The verification of 88 new names serves as a grim testament to the regime’s brutality, but the continued presence of protesters in the streets of Iran proves that the tactic of terror has failed to extinguish the demand for freedom.

Staff WriterJanuary 26, 2026
Arab-Islamic Committee in Defence of Ashraf
Back to top button