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At least 12,000 people were killed in the largest killing in Iran’s contemporary history, carried out largely over two consecutive nights on January 8 and 9, Iran International’s editorial board concluded, based on a review of sources and medical data.
Iran is under a coordinated blackout aimed not only at security control but at concealing the truth, reflected in internet cuts, crippled communications, media shutdowns, and the intimidation of journalists and witnesses.
Publication was delayed until the evidence converged.
The assessment is based on a multi-stage review of information from a source close to the Supreme National Security Council; two sources in the presidential office; accounts from several sources within the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps in Mashhad, Kermanshah and Isfahan; testimonies from eyewitnesses and families of those killed; field reports; data linked to medical centers; and information provided by doctors and nurses in multiple cities.
Many of those killed were under the age of 30.
Iran's exiled Queen Farah Pahlavi said Iranians will soon celebrate freedom together as protests continue, praising their bravery and offering condolences to families of the victims.
"Soon you will celebrate freedom together in Iran and light will overcome darkness," she wrote on X.
Pahlavi said authorities had cut communications out of fear of public voices being heard, but added that the message of protesters could not be silenced. She also referred to videos emerging of protesters being killed, saying it has caused her deep pain as a mother and offered condolences to families while wishing recovery for the wounded.
“Every child of this nation whose blood is shed revives for me the unbearable grief of losing my own children,” she said.
Addressing Iran’s armed forces, Pahlavi urged them not to tie their fate to those responsible for bloodshed and to join the people, saying no interest or political survival could justify killing compatriots.
Finland’s Foreign Minister Elina Valtonen said on Tuesday she would summon Iran’s ambassador over what she described as a violent crackdown and an internet shutdown aimed at silencing protesters.
"I will summon the Iranian ambassador this morning," Valtonen wrote on X.
She said Iran’s authorities had shut down the internet to "kill and oppress in silence" and added that such actions would not be tolerated.
"We stand with the people of Iran - women and men alike," she said.
Valtonen said Finland was working with the EU to explore steps to help restore freedom for the Iranian people.
Former US ambassador to the United Nations Nikki Haley said on Tuesday there was no prospect of negotiations with Iran’s leadership, arguing that the collapse of the Iranian regime would be a major accomplishment for the Trump administration’s efforts to pursue peace in the Middle East.
“There is no negotiating with the Iranian regime. If the Iranian regime falls, the head of the terrorist snake falls with it,” Haley wrote on X. “This could be a major accomplishment for the Trump administration finally making peace in the Middle East a possibility.”
Iran’s Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi said Tehran is ready for any action by the United States, including military steps, in an interview aired by Al Jazeera.
"We are prepared for any move," Araghchi said. "If they want to test the military option again, which they have already tried, we are ready."
He said Iran’s level of readiness is now much higher, both in quantity and quality, than before the 12-day war in June.
"Our preparedness is much stronger than before, in both scale and capability," he said. "We are ready for all options - whether they choose a military option or a diplomatic one, under the conditions I mentioned."
Araghchi said the main question was whether Washington would choose what he called a wise path.
"The important thing is how much a rational course is taken," he said. "Unfortunately, some are trying to drag America into war and endless wars to serve Israel’s interests."
"We will see how much the United States chooses the path of wisdom," he added.
