A Repeating Pattern in the Suppression of the January 2026 Nationwide Protests
According to information collected by the Iran Prisons Atlas, an independent documentation project monitoring detention conditions in Iran, at least six citizens who were arrested during the nationwide protests in January 2026 (Dey 1404) died after being transferred to security detention centers. A review of these cases shows that their deaths did not occur during the protests themselves, but after arrest, during periods when their families were kept in complete uncertainty for days or even weeks.
What connects these cases is not only death in detention, but a pattern of shared signs: enforced disappearance, allegations of torture and mistreatment, official narratives that lack transparency, and pressure on families to remain silent.
Ali Heydari, a 20-year-old resident of Mashhad. On the evening of January 7, during protests on Haft-e-Tir Boulevard in Mashhad, he was directly shot and wounded in the leg. Witnesses say security forces forcibly took him away after he was injured. From that moment, his family entered 33 days of complete uncertainty. No authority accepted responsibility for his arrest, and repeated efforts by his family to contact hospitals, prosecutors, and security institutions led nowhere. Finally, in the early hours of February 8, the family received a brief call to collect his body. Severe signs of physical abuse, a broken nose, and a bullet wound to the forehead, suggesting a close-range shot, raised serious questions about the circumstances of his death and are inconsistent with the official claim that he “died during the protests.” The condition of his body also appears to indicate that death occurred in the final days of detention.
In another case, Nima Jafari, a 22-year-old Kurdish man from Eyvan Gharb, died only days after being arrested by the Intelligence Department in Bandar Abbas. Informed sources say authorities pressured his family to state that the cause of death was “suicide.” His body was returned from Bandar Abbas to Ilam under strict security supervision, and the family was threatened against speaking to the media. This pattern, an unexpected call to collect a body, an unsupported official explanation, and pressure for silence, has been repeated in several other cases.
Soran Feyzizadeh, a 40-year-old from Saqqez living in Bijar, was arrested during protests and two days later his family was informed of his death. According to available information, the severity of injuries made his body difficult to recognize. After paying a fee to receive the body, his family buried him under strict security restrictions and without permission for a public funeral. As in other cases, authorities had given no clear answers during the detention period.
Milad Otmani, a young Kurdish man from Salmas, was shot in Tehran on January 7 and arrested after being injured. His family remained in complete uncertainty for 12 days until January 19, when they were called to collect his body. It remains unclear whether his death resulted from his initial injuries or from mistreatment during detention. The absence of an independent investigation and the lack of detailed official explanation further deepen concerns.
In Gorgan, 26-year-old Amirhossein Khandoozi, an employee of a private company, was arrested by security forces on January 7. Five days later, on January 12, his body was returned to his family. According to collected information, his family was placed under severe pressure to remain silent and accept the official account of his death.
In Gonbad-e Kavus, Mohammad Gharavi, a young Turkmen man, was transferred to a Revolutionary Guard detention center after his arrest on January 7. Hours later, news of his death was announced. Sources close to the family say they were asked to pay a significant sum to receive the body and were told to describe the cause of death as a “heart attack” or “accident.” However, the official death certificate listed the cause as “impact from projectiles,” which contradicted the explanations suggested to the family.
A review of these cases shows that deaths in detention during the January 2026 protests are not isolated incidents but follow a clear pattern. First, arrests occurred in street violence or after injuries from direct gunfire. Second, families were kept in complete uncertainty for periods ranging from several days to more than a month, conditions that international law considers “enforced disappearance”. Third, bodies were returned without clear explanation and often showed visible signs of abuse or close-range gunshot wounds. Fourth, families were pressured to change the reported cause of death and to avoid public discussion. Finally, funerals were held under security control or severe restrictions.
Statistically, most of the victims were under 30 years old. The geographic spread of these cases, from Khorasan Razavi to Hormozgan, from Tehran to Golestan and Kurdistan, suggests that this is not a series of exceptional or isolated events but a widespread pattern in the treatment of detainees.
Based on collected data, at least five deaths after arrest during the January 2026 protests have been documented. Given the security atmosphere, threats against families, and severe restrictions on information, the actual number of victims is likely higher. What has been documented so far represents only part of a larger reality, imply that arrest appears to mean the loss of basic protection for protesters, and transparent legal processes have been replaced by denial, intimidation, and controlled narratives. Without prompt, independent, and transparent investigations, and without meaningful accountability mechanisms, such patterns risk becoming normalized.