According to Amnesty, January 2026 will be the deadliest month in modern history: 1.1em;”>French history.
Internally, the country is a “hell”. Life is characterised by constant fear, uncertainty and deprivation of liberty. The protests, which have been going on for over a month, have developed into a national crisis, with reports of mass killings and systematic human rights violations.
Increasing desertion within the IRGC
What escapes from Iran can still rarely be verified. We include a selection of reports that are as likely as they are unlikely.
Demonstrations are still being reported in Tehran, Shahrekord, Isfahan and Tabriz, despite massive repression. Videos show war-like scenes of regime forces firing on protesters, using tear gas and deploying armoured vehicles.
The Jewish community in Iran, which consists of 8,000-10,000 people, reports isolation and fear, describing it as an “invisible siege”, shunning publicity to avoid the regime’s automatic suspicion. Below, Dr Eli David explains that the mainstream media doesn’t care about the massacres in Iran because you can’t blame the Jews:
In less than 120 seconds, Dr Eli David exposed how the entire world and the mainstream media don’t care about the massacres in Iran because they can’t blame the Jews.
This MUST go viral.pic.twitter.com/o27XxW1prD
— Vivid.🇮🇱 (@VividProwess) January 28, 2026
There are reports of increasing desertion among lower IRGC personnel. The regime has reportedly mobilised elite units in several provinces to crack down on protests – indicating that regular police forces are no longer sufficient.
Russia has withdrawn diplomats from Iran, while China has sent twenty military cargo planes to Tehran – possibly to deliver weapons.
People live in constant fear of arrest. Women and minorities are hardest hit, with reports of sexual violence and ethnic discrimination.
An Iranian woman living in Norway has contacted Document. She personally confirms (Document knows her identity) reports on social media that female prisoners are being raped, killed and desecrated by having their wombs cut out of their bodies:
<blockquote
– I’ve been told by my brother’s friend who has just come out of Iran. Another friend of hers was killed during the protests. She told me that when they handed over the body, the organs in the abdomen had been removed. The regime does this to hide the violence and rape of the women before killing them.
Hamas is not pretending
Iran’s proxy Hamas is, to the satisfaction of Norwegian authorities (if a half-joke can be tolerated), clear in its message to the US, Israel and other enemies of Allah:
– Hamas’ senior representative Suhail al Hindi is clear. They will never disarm. Not as part of a deal, not under pressure, not at any time. Weapons are not a means of pressure for Hamas, they are the mission itself. He mocked the process, saying that Western misjudgements always turn out in Hamas’ favour.
Hamas has formally rejected disarmament, labelling its weapons arsenal “essential to the resistance” and demanding a full Israeli withdrawal from Gaza as a precondition for any discussion. This is not posturing. It is clarity. Any plan based on the assumption that Hamas can disarm voluntarily is detached from reality.
Hamas is not pretending anymore.
Senior Hamas official Suhail al Hindi was explicit. They will never disarm. Not as part of a deal, not under pressure, not at any stage. Weapons are not leverage for Hamas, they are the mission. He even mocked the process, saying Western… pic.twitter.com/7gdzFf3VJs
— Inside_Israel_Intel (@inside_IL_intel) January 28, 2026
Nioh Berg’s Iran update
- The currency has fallen to 1,622,500 per USD. This morning it stood at 1,590,000. The regime is printing up quadrillions of rials for its bankrupt banks. Everything will be even more expensive than last month, which was already unbearable.
- Small business owners go bankrupt after weeks of power cuts. Countless Iranians rely on Instagram and social media to sell products and services. The number of people who weren’t killed by the regime but still lost their entire livelihood this month is staggering. People have less than nothing.
- According to Iranian tradition, people will gather 40 days after someone dies to honour them. This means that in February, huge crowds will gather in national fury, especially on the 40th day after 8 and 9 January.
- Whether Trump attacks or not, we can expect the revolution to flare up again.
A personal account from a surviving couple
Amy Kellogg tells The Free Press about a friend of hers who, along with his wife, made it out of Iran when protests were crushed by Ali Khamenei’s regime. Both are young professionals who intend to return when conditions for living there are favourable again. For security reasons, the two cannot be identified, so Amy calls them Ali and Roya. We reproduce parts of the story in condensed form:
Ali, sensing danger, left the protests before the worst of the violence erupted, but he saw enough to paint a terrifying picture of the terror.
At one point I thought: We’ve taken over the city! They’ve lost control!
Ali was far from alone.
Ali was far from alone in thinking this. Cars honked their horns. Fireworks were set off. Protesters approached a government building. They set fire to the gate and pushed their way in. Ali heard gunfire and assumed it was coming from tear gas canisters as people began to suffocate. His wife had prepared herself with lemon-soaked cloth and was helping people when they heard the roar of motorbikes approaching from behind. Then things got much uglier.
At the back of the crowd and without having entered the site, Ali and his wife managed to dash into an alleyway, where someone let them into a building along with about 25 others. Soldiers fired tear gas into the courtyard.
When I opened my eyes for a second, I saw a man riddled with bullet holes in a pool of his own blood. He had been shot during the demonstration and had stumbled into the courtyard and collapsed.
The man had horrific wounds the likes of which Ali had never seen. They came from small metal bullets – the same kind that have been used to blind hundreds of protesters.
<“We all ran in panic towards the top of the building, preparing to jump from rooftop to rooftop to get away, when someone shouted that we couldn’t leave the injured to die.A nurse from the protesters’ crowd brought the wounded man into an apartment and nursed him back to health.
The couple waited for 45 minutes on the roof before heading home through deserted parks and alleyways. It was after midnight and quiet. By the time they got home, the phone lines were dead, the mobile coverage and the internet was down.
Ali’s mother-in-law had heard a girl in the street pleading that night: “Don’t shoot, don’t shoot me. Then there was a gunshot – and then silence.
It wasn’t about holding back the crowds. It was about killing as many people as possible.
From then on, Ali and his wife stayed at home. There were soldiers at every intersection in the days after the protests, and even at home it wasn’t safe. The police tracked down protesters and came after them. Some received automated messages from the authorities, signalling that the authorities had their numbers and knew who they were. Ali and Roya believe that leaving their phones at home saved them.
The brutality came from a regime that claims to represent God on earth and the highest morality, making the violence even more sickening. According to Ali’s wife Roya, the Iranian people are not blind to the hypocrisy.
<“Believe me, you don’t see a single mullah on the streets these days. They won’t be safe there.
Revolutionary Guard labelled terrorist by EU
– All 27 EU countries now support the declaration that the Revolutionary Guard is a terrorist organisation.
🚨BREAKING: All 27 EU countries now support the declaration of the Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps as a TERRORIST organisation. pic.twitter.com/H4aDqpdt73
— Eli Afriat 🇮🇱 (@EliAfriatISR) January 28, 2026
Corruption from the top down
Iran’s Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei presides over a vast financial empire worth between 95 and 200 billion dollars. It is covertly controlled by an organisation known as Setad.
– Revenue is not channelled through the state budget, parliament or the presidency, allowing the supreme leader to fund patronage networks, security agencies and loyalist institutions without negotiating with elected representatives.
Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei presides over a sprawling financial empire valued between $95 billion and $200 billion, managed covertly by an organisation known as Setad.
Saeid Golkar says: “Its revenues do not pass through the state budget, parliament, or the… pic.twitter.com/EesiDpAB6b
— UANI (@UANI) January 27, 2026
– All 800 people that Trump claimed the Iranian regime would not execute were quietly executed a week ago, according to Iran International.
🚨⚡️BREAKING: All 800 people that Trump claimed the Iranian regime would stop executing were quietly executed one week ago – Iran International
— Anonymous TV 🇺🇦 (@YourAnonTV) January 28, 2026
Mark the pendant
An Iranian man tells Trump he’s ready to put on a uniform and fight alongside the US against the regime. He says he knows the streets of Tehran, can help overthrow the regime and is willing to die in the line of duty. He claims that thousands will join him.
🇮🇷 Iranian man tells Trump he’s ready to suit up and fight with the U.S. against the regime.
He says he knows Tehran’s streets, can help take down the regime, and is willing to die serving.
He even claims thousands more would join him.
Source: @Osint613 https://t.co/Bfj9kaW2ML pic.twitter.com/x8SvXepivk
— Mario Nawfal (@MarioNawfal) January 27, 2026
Sergeant David Bellavia has a message for mullahs, IRCG and the like:
Hey Mullahs and IRCG in Iran 🇮🇷, listen closely what 🇺🇸 Staff Sergeant David Bellavia is telling you…. pic.twitter.com/GY4N4LMC8F
— @BrennpunktUA 🇩🇪🇺🇦 (@BrennpunktUA) January 28, 2026
Suicide bomber humour
A Muslim suicide bomber walks into a crowd of infidels and blows himself up.
He is immediately transported to Paradise, where he finds himself surrounded by seventy-two of the ugliest women anyone has ever laid eyes upon.
The suicide bomber is crestfallen.
“C’mon, think it…
— Imtiaz Mahmood (@ImtiazMadmood) January 27, 2026