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Protests in Iran, day 29: The price of the religion of peace is counted in bodies

By: Arnt Jensvoll   26. January 2026, 07:00
The Despots' «Hall of Fame». Illustration: ChatGPT

The demonstrations in Iran did not begin as an ideological uprising. They began as market reactions to scarcity. Bread and fuel became prohibitively expensive. The rial reached a historic low. Citizens could see that resources existed, but that they were allocated to corruption, missiles, proxies and vain monuments in honour of the regime and its men.

The short war between Iran and Israel in June 2025 intensified the pressure on the regime. Twelve days of conflict didn’t destroy Iran’s military forces, but it did deplete their reserves. Billions were spent on rebuilding the air defence and replenishing missiles. Capital was taken out of the country. Confidence collapsed. By funding Hamas and Hezbollah at the same time as the government cut subsidies for bread, the Islamic regime revealed its priorities and values.

The death toll speaks for itself

It’s impossible to sort truth from lies, rumour from wishful thinking, smear from fiction in the information coming out of Iran. It’s good to keep this in mind, but we do know this:</p

The regime has won the battle for the streets through extreme violence and digital isolation, but the crisis is not over: The economy is in freefall, trust in the regime has evaporated and there are signs of internal divisions. Protests could flare up again if the blackout is lifted or the economy continues to collapse. The US build-up of forces and the possibility of military strikes against the regime are real, but there is no open war at the time of writing.

The demonstrations that figuratively started because the people didn’t have money for bread quickly developed into a fight against everything the regime stands for. What it has cost is not only measured in money; we are counting bodies.

It is now claimed that up to 30,000 may have been killed in Iran

After rumours of the number of people killed in the last few days have moved up to a staggering 80,000, nothing shocks anymore. The latest is that prisoners have to be released due to lack of space. When they are released, they are allegedly injected with an overdose of potassium, which kills them after a few days of freedom.

The usually very reliable Amir Tsarfati is one of several sources for the potassium overdose claim.

Just a few days ago, the estimated death toll passed 2,500-3,000. Today, sources such as Time magazine are writing about 30,000 deaths, while others mention figures of up to 80,000. Regardless of the final figures, this gives Khamenei and his Islamic Republic with a mandate from Allah a respectable place in the despots’ hall of fame.

– It is becoming increasingly clear that the night of 8 January was the deadliest in the history of the Islamic Republic and one of the deadliest in the world in the last generation. The regime killed thousands, probably tens of thousands. It was a massacre on a scale that is hard to imagine. Amir Tsarfati

Intimidation kills

What began on 8 January is no longer a “crackdown” – it is the deadliest event in the history of the Islamic Republic, and one of the most concentrated massacres in modern history – and it is unfolding in real time.

Some media outlets are downplaying the atrocities, reporting regime-controlled figures as low as 3,900, but the truth leaking out is catastrophic:</p

Internal estimates from civil registry sources suggest that at least 45,000 registered identities have been erased in less than 48 hours. Respected journalists confirm that between 36,500 and 45,000 people have been killed.

This is a bloodbath to rival the Mongol invasion. More Iranians have been massacred in one week than the total number of Jews killed in the region over the past 150 years.

  • Isfahan: Arrested protesters are executed in secret squads – without trial, without lawyer, without goodbye. Deaths are backdated to hide the genocide.
  • In the south, drones hunt civilians in the mountains and at sea. In Hamedan, @NiohBerg reports that girls are being mercilessly attacked.
  • Reports confirm that regime forces are entering hospitals to give the wounded the “mercy shot”
  • .

Desperate messages break through the digital blackout

– In the morgue, you can hear voices – people crying for help. They lock living people in cold rooms. They inject them to kill them slowly. Why doesn’t anyone hear us? The world is silent. The UN is silent. Human rights organisations are silent.

– Reports from Arab media and online sources claim that China has conducted large-scale airlifts to Iran. In just 56 hours, around 16 Chinese military transport planes landed in Tehran with various types of military equipment. Amir Tsarfati on Telegram

Yesterday we included a message from the account Barron Trump – @TrumpBarron_Q. This is not a real account belonging to Barron Trump. It is considered to have low credibility. Barron, Donald Trump’s now adult son, has no official Twitter account. He has largely stayed away from social media.

– Fear of all-out war in Iran after state media breaks silence on Khamenei.

Iran is facing a critical turning point after state TV signalled a change in attitude towards its supreme leader amid calls for “total war”. This unprecedented move reflects growing internal divisions, power struggles among the elite and growing unrest among the population.

As tensions mount, the future of the Islamic Republic hangs in the balance with potential consequences both domestically and internationally.

Rumours of closure of the Strait of Hormuz

– Raknet News reports that the Revolutionary Guard is preparing to close the Strait of Hormuz. According to the report, the IRGC has built thousands of boats filled with explosives, deployed sea mines and readied missile-armed warships to enable the complete closure of the world’s most important energy hub.

– Iran’s National Security Committee spokesman, Ebrahim Rezaei, has warned of war in the Persian Gulf in the next 24 hours.

According to Middle East 24, The Telegraph reports that Putin is reportedly willing to sacrifice Iran.

People ready to take back the streets

A Tehran resident told i24News: “The protesters are relatively calm for now. As soon as the US takes action, they will return to the streets.”

– Believe it or not, the weather in the US has prevented the shipment of several defence systems and interceptor missiles to our region. This has delayed the attack on Iran.

Beginning Tuesday, when all flights have resumed and the planned military aid is fully in place, the show can begin. Remember, President Trump wants a strong and unequivocal decisive blow. To achieve that, Iranian radar and communication systems must first be blinded, powerful new weapons brought in to shock and disable the forces on the ground. Only then can a massive attack be launched against those responsible for the massacres in Iran. Amir Tsarfati

– Iranians are trying to identify members of the Basij paramilitary organisation, which has been involved in the massacre of over 40,000 Iranian protesters.

A recently identified case is that of Sadegh Taheri, owner of a coffee shop/restaurant called Limo on Taleghani Street in Saveh. According to witnesses and video footage, he was filmed using his own shotgun during the action on 8 January 2026. He is said to have killed at least 30 protesters.

– On Saturday, the Islamic regime opened the internet with around 30 per cent connectivity. They were forced to do so for their own interests. Because of that, hundreds of videos have come in via Telegram.

We have always known what the regime is capable of, but the cruelty, brutality and barbarity I now see is on a completely different level. It’s not just the foreign militias from Iraq and Afghanistan doing the dirty work. Iranian security forces are also targeting their own countrymen.

The bodies are stacked in black bags like rubbish in the streets of the big cities. Equally shocking is the silence and inaction of the international community.

Hitler tried to exterminate the Jews. What we are witnessing in real time is a government trying to exterminate the part of the population that does not agree with them. Nothing can stop them.

Testimonies from Razavi Hospital, Mashhad

– The bodies keep coming in. All of them are young. Almost none could be resuscitated. All had head or heart injuries. These were executions, not accidents.

They all came from the poorest parts of the city. Torn shoes. Worn-out clothes. Empty stomachs.

They didn’t know politics. They didn’t know slogans. They didn’t know names.

They took to the streets because they had no food. In their pockets they carried stones. Stones against bullets.

A 25-year-old boy, bleeding, calm, whispered before the operation: “I am a construction worker. I’ve been working since eight o’clock this morning. I haven’t eaten anything. Do you have a piece of bread?

He died hungry.

The floor of the hospital was so drenched in blood that every step splashed red. Outside, there was non-stop shooting for three hours. Inside, it was a sea of blood.

For years they’ve been talking about suffering far away. That night, we witnessed real injustice with our own eyes.

– Whoever you are, listen to me for God’s sake. Yesterday we went to collect the body of someone we knew. In the morgue, you can clearly hear voices – people shouting “help”. They’re injecting them. They are killing many who could have been saved. The massacre continues.

Why is no one listening to us? The situation is catastrophic. If only a hundred people are rescued, that’s a hundred families that aren’t left in mourning.

Do you realise that every day they are killing people who could be brought back to life – by giving them injections and locking them in cold rooms? I no longer know how to pray, how to swear, what to say. Just look around you – they are committing crimes. Tomorrow it will be your sister, your brother, your family. Every second someone’s life is taken.

– Dr Alireza Golchini is a surgeon who treated wounded protesters. For saving lives, he was arrested and sentenced to death. He is now in danger of being executed. Be his voice.

Amir Tsarfati with a plea to Donald Trump on Telegram:

– President Trump, there are no more excuses. Israel has provided you with live data from hospitals across Iran, where our agents have been secretly recording videos. The evidence is shocking! The executions are not just continuing – they are accelerating. The previous estimate of 20,000 dead was conservative; the number has now risen to almost 80,000. With each passing day, hundreds more are slaughtered. Most, if not all, are either wounded or imprisoned. They will not receive a fair trial. They will be executed and then reported dead during the protests two weeks ago.

The protests in Iran, day 28: Khamenei does what Hitler did, hides in a bunker

 

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