Iranian regime killed 221 children during January 2026 protests, UN fact-finding mission says

Mission records reveal the scale of the carnage among the young, listing six children under 10 and two victims who were only two years old.

By Maddie Ali, The Algemeiner

At least 221 children were killed during Iran’s nationwide protests that began in late December 2025, according to findings presented by the United Nations Independent Fact-Finding Mission on Iran.

The figure includes children as young as four months old.

Viviana Krsticevic, expert member of the Iran Fact-Finding Mission, said on October 28, “The Government of Iran has itself published a list of over three thousand 3,000 names of persons killed. However, we have reasons to believe the actual numbers are likely significantly higher. The dead recorded by us include at least 221 children, the youngest 4 months old.”

The protests began on December 28 over economic grievances, then expanded into demands for political change and spread across all 31 provinces and more than 200 cities.

The Islamic regime in Iran responded with lethal force, mass killings and arrests, and a digital blackout.

The UN mission’s September report described a significant escalation in arrests and executions.

It said security forces killed protesters and bystanders, including children, using live ammunition against people who posed no imminent threat.

Killings were particularly high in Tehran, Karaj, Mashhad, Isfahan, and Rasht.

Further details in the mission’s documentation reveal the scale of the deaths among young victims. Its records include six children under the age of 10, while two victims were only two years old.

“We saw security forces shooting at the bystanders and young individuals; we tried to help those who fell, but they blocked access to the wounded,” said Arman, a protester from the January protests.

The deaths form part of a wider pattern of violence. The security forces used tear gas followed by shotgun fire with metal pellets.

Medical evidence showed injuries to the eyes, head, chest, and upper body.

Videos and witness accounts indicated that the regime forces also fired rifles from elevated positions and that some people were shot from behind as they fled.

More than 700 people sought treatment for eye injuries at Tehran’s Farabi Hospital between January 8 and 10, some suffering severe or total loss of vision.

Government forces monitored facilities and detained some patients, relatives, and healthcare workers.

Authorities imposed a nationwide and mobile communications shutdown on January 8, at the height of the violence.

The blackout lasted for weeks, limiting contact between friends and families, obstructing emergency assistance, and making independent documentation impossible.

“Two of my friends were wounded, and another was detained on January 9. I had no way of contacting them because the internet blackout had begun, and I feared for their lives,” said Siavash, a 24-year-old protester from Tehran.

The crackdown continued through arrests and detention. The mission cited reports of tens of thousands detained, including children.

Detainees faced torture, ill-treatment, interrogation, and unfair trials without lawyers. Families faced intimidation, while authorities were accused of delaying the release of bodies and restricting funerals.

The UN mission concluded that many violations, including murder, imprisonment, torture, and other inhumane acts, amounted to crimes against humanity as part of a widespread and systematic attack directed against the civilian population.

It warned that the government’s published casualty figures may underestimate the true toll.

Iranian authorities have released a list naming more than 3,000 people killed, but human rights organizations have documented more than 6,000 deaths, while Iran International reported more than 36,500 people were killed during the crackdown on January 8 and 9, citing classified government documents and other sources.

The figures remain difficult to independently verify due to the authorities’ internet blackout and restrictions on access to information.

“A 13-year-old boy named Javad was shot dead by security forces. His mother had passed away, and he was the sole breadwinner of his family,” said Ali, a protester who said he knew the family.

“His father is disabled and unable to work,” he added.

The repression has continued long after streets were cleared.

The Iranian regime has intensified their use of the death penalty against protesters, with Human Rights Watch reporting that at least 29 people arrested in connection with the December 2025-January 2026 protests were executed between March and the end of August 2026.

Dozens more remained at risk of execution, including women and young detainees.

Reports of expedited trials, coerced confessions, and no access to legal representation have raised further concerns about the treatment of those detained.

For families who lost their children, the consequences of the crackdown extend far beyond the days of protests. Many are left grieving without answers, while others continue to fear for relatives who remain in detention.

The deaths of 221 children represent more than a figure in a human rights report; they are lives cut short, families deprived of their loved ones and futures that will never be lived.

As arrests and executions continue, the question of accountability remains unresolved.