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Protests in Iran, day 22: The Islamic regime is crumbling from the inside

By: Arnt Jensvoll   19. January 2026, 10:32
Seyyed Ali Hosseini Khamenei, the supreme leader responsible for the killing of thousands of people. Photo: khamenei.ir CC BY 4.0

In a speech broadcast on state television, Ali Khamenei admitted for the first time on Saturday that “thousands have been killed”. He blamed “terrorists” backed by the US and Israel. Khamenei called the death toll the result of “massive damage” caused by foreign interference and referred to US President Donald Trump as a “criminal”. There are also reports of disintegration inside the regime. An Iranian diplomat at the UN headquarters in Geneva has defected.

Khamenei claimed the fire has been “extinguished”, but reports suggest the unrest is still smouldering with sporadic clashes in around 200 cities. Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian warns that any attack on Khamenei would be tantamount to full-scale war.

– The Iranian regime has received intelligence information that an assassination attempt is being planned against Iran’s Supreme Leader, Ali Khamenei. Iran’s President says that any aggression against the country’s leader is tantamount to total war against the Iranian people.

Internationally, the statement has triggered reactions. Trump responded by saying it is “time for new leadership in Iran”. The EU and UN have expressed “dismay” at the death toll and called for an independent investigation.

State TV hacked

Several TV channels belonging to the Islamic regime are reported to have been hacked and are broadcasting a message to the security forces urging them not to turn their weapons against the Iranian people.

The video contains several short speeches by Crown Prince Reza Pahlavi as well as a sequence showing a person writing the slogan “JAVID SHAH” on a wall – long live the king.

It’s still hard to distinguish between truth and lies, hope, wishful thinking and deliberate disinformation from Iran. But we start with a piece of good news and hope it’s true, because yesterday it was reported that he had been arrested:

– Erfan Soltani is still alive! The 26-year-old Iranian was sentenced to death last week for protesting against the regime. Today, his family was allowed to visit him in prison. They confirm that he is alive and in stable condition. Until this visit, the family had no confirmation of his condition and feared that the sentence had already been carried out.

We bring you another uplifting message, this time about the resilience of the Iranian people:

According to a report from an opposition channel, Iranian citizens have entered the Basij headquarters, burned the place down and released all prisoners. The revolution continues and will not end until the terrorist regime falls.

Lily Bandehy should be familiar to Documents readers. We include a recent Facebook post from her in today’s Iran Report:

– It is excruciatingly painful to sit in the safety of Norway and watch as people in Iran are killed, maimed and crushed. My heart cannot take in the scale of the suffering. According to reports, thousands have been killed, tens of thousands injured and many have lost their sight. The figures are likely to be far higher, because wounded people dare not go to hospital for fear of arrest, torture and the death penalty.

Thousands are imprisoned. Many risk execution without trial. These are not just statistics – these are lives, families, futures that are being torn away. I have no words. Tears are not enough. The feeling of powerlessness, of not being able to do anything, is almost worse than the grief itself. I feel trapped.

What makes the pain even worse is that this violence is justified through power, ideology and religious coercion. When religion is used as a political weapon, it becomes a tool of oppression, especially against women, minorities and those who dare to protest.

My grief and rage is not directed at ordinary people of faith. It is directed at a religious fascist regime and a system that kills in the name of religion. Speaking out about this is not hate – it’s a cry for justice.

I carry a pain that won’t go away, because it’s about people I love, a country I belong to, and lives being shattered as the world moves on. Silence feels like betrayal. That’s why I write.

In another post, Lily Bandehy comments on NRK’s stance on the Islamic terrorist regime in Iran. Here is an edited extract:

-Today, Iranians from all groups and political viewpoints gathered in front of the Parliament. Around five thousand people took part. This was not mentioned in NRK’s Dagsnytt at 19.00. NRK focused on a few people in front of the Iranian embassy, where they interviewed voices that emphasised division and disagreement in the opposition.

NRK, which has long had a clear left-wing bias, now appears to be uncritical of Islamist perspectives and is helping to misinform the Norwegian people. Why does NRK show so little respect for the victims when more than 23,000 people have been killed in the space of 48 hours? Why is the Iranian people’s struggle for freedom downplayed, while internal disagreements are inflated?

NRK is an echo of the Iranian regime’s narrative. A free and secular future for Iran will not support Hamas and Hezbollah – which is precisely why this revolution seems to be met with silence, scepticism and distortion.

– Today, the IRGC has taken control of the streets and city centres of many Iranian cities. It’s a show of force by the Islamic regime against the Iranian people. Footage shows IRGC chemical warfare units deployed alongside fire trucks and pepper spray cannons.

It is claimed that the executioner Shahin Dehghan, one of the police officers who played a direct role in the suppression of the protests in Tehran, is currently flying first class to the Island of the 72 Virgins.

Parallel to the “show of force”, there are reports that the Islamic regime is crumbling from the inside. Several sources report that an Iranian diplomat at the UN headquarters in Geneva has defected.

– Alireza Jirani Hokmabad, a senior diplomat at the UN’s European headquarters in Geneva, has applied for asylum in Switzerland. He joined Iran’s Permanent Mission in Geneva in 2017 and has since represented the regime in UN economic bodies. He was appointed chairman of the UN Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD) in April 2025.

Iran International reports that several other diplomats have also sought asylum in countries around the world in recent days.

– The Islamic Republic’s lobbying organisation in the US, the National Iranian American Council (NIAC), is working overtime in Washington. Former staffers on Capitol Hill confirm that NIAC is holding back-to-back meetings with both parties, presenting itself as the voice of Iranian-Americans.

NIAC tells officials that the Iranians want Khamenei to step down but be replaced by “reformists” from the Islamic Republic. They argue that dismantling the regime is unrealistic and that the reformists will negotiate with the US and give the people “some freedom”.

Reformists prioritise sanctions and negotiations over freedom. They warn more against “chaos” than executions. They oppose regime change and attack transitional leadership, especially the leadership that protesters in Iran are demanding be ousted.

“Whole families were shot and killed in their cars”

Reports from Iranian doctors, relayed by The Sunday Times, estimate that the number of people killed is now between a minimum of 16,500 and 18,000, and 330,000 injured. The figures include children and pregnant women. Most were killed during a two-day massacre, and the majority were under the age of 30.

“Tell the whole world that on Friday they sprayed everyone with gunfire. The IRGC forces calmly tried to aim at people’s heads,” said one survivor of the protests. An eye hospital in Tehran, Noor Clinic, has documented 7,000 eye injuries. “There are so many gunshot-related eye injuries that we don’t know who to treat first,” said an ophthalmologist.

Many young Iranians have died due to blood loss. Medical staff have donated their own blood in an attempt to save patients. In some cases, security forces refused to allow blood transfusions.

– The worst one-day massacre since the Holocaust – and the world is silent…

In our last Document update from Iran, we wrote about reports that the Islamic regime has used unidentified chemical agents disguised as tear gas against protesters; paralysing gases that temporarily “freeze” individuals, preventing them from moving or fleeing, and reportedly resulting in some casualties a few days later. Similar reports continue to pour in – and in increasing numbers.

There is an ongoing discussion that the regime may have used chemical agents against protesters. Footage shows security forces in Sabzevar wearing protective gear linked to chemical exposure.</p

– More than a week after being hit by tear gas, my body has still not returned to normal. My blood pressure and heart rate are still high; I have abdominal pain, headaches and dizziness. A doctor said that many patients have similar symptoms and that they seem to be caused by chemical substances that were fired as “tear gas”

.

– Three years ago, thousands of Iranian schoolgirls had to be hospitalised after being exposed to chemical gas attacks. The regime has a history of using chemical weapons against its own citizens.

On 17 January, reports emerged based on a report from the organisation Filterwatch that Iran plans to never again allow public access to the internet.

– Regime-controlled Iranian media are spreading false claims that the internet is back, Google is available and normal connectivity has been restored. Several Western media outlets are repeating this without verifying it and turning the regime’s message into headlines.

The reality is a partial, heavily filtered connection that only allows access to content authorised by the regime. It is a staged illusion designed to deceive the outside world. Calling this “internet access” is misleading, and calling it “restored” is false.

The Butcher of Gilan

– Hamoun Mohammadi, former commander of the IRGC in Gilan – the man who ordered the horrific massacre of the people of Gilan. Remember his dirty face. Send his identity and details to international institutions and to the US State Department. None of the murderers must escape punishment.

President Trump, we are, as you said, recording the names of the criminals. Take revenge on behalf of the Iranian people on the Islam-Nazis.

Visegrád 24 claims that the IRGC often uses Afghans for terrorist operations in Europe.

The mainstream media doesn’t report it, but two Afghan asylum seekers last night stabbed several Pahlavi supporters in Hamburg during a demonstration against the Islamic regime.

– Protesters who have been imprisoned have told Iran International of abuse, forced undressing, exposure to cold and injections with substances of unknown composition, a source close to the family of one of the detainees told Iran International.

The prison guards undressed the detainees in the prison’s courtyard and kept them outside the building for a long time in winter conditions. The officers then hosed down the inmates with cold water.

The inmate also said that the following day, the prison officers injected him and several others with drugs whose contents were not identified.

– They put living people in body bags

– A harrowing report: Eyewitnesses searching body piles for their loved ones discovered condensation inside some body bags. People were still breathing when they were placed in the bags. This is more than a massacre, it’s pure horror.

Behnam Gholipour is regarded as a credible source in the field of dissident and exiled Iranian journalism. He has built a reputation for bringing out suppressed voices, videos and reports from inside Iran, which mainstream media rarely cover.

A mother’s last goodbye

“Mobin, my dear, mum is here. I always covered you, so you wouldn’t get cold. I was too late, my son … forgive me.

It could be new, beautiful selfies

– It’s now been three weeks since the regime started killing Iranian demonstrators protesting against the regime. Why aren’t Greta and her friends travelling on a “freedom raft” to the Persian Gulf?

Iran protests, day 21: Iranian suffering doesn’t fit the left’s agenda

 

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