How Many Iranian Protesters Did the Khamenei Regime Kill?
- Meir Javedanfar
- 3 days ago
- 4 min read
Updated: 4 hours ago
The Khamenei regime has seemingly become as aggressive as Bashar al-Assad. This is one of the main lessons that can be drawn from the recent uprising in Iran. Khamenei proved that just like his former ally and partner, Bashar al-Assad, he will mercilessly kill and maim, just to stay in power.
This is in addition to other grotesque acts of violence, such as the blinding of thousands, if not tens of thousands, of protesters. Khamenei’s regime did this by ordering the security forces to shoot pellet guns directly at the eyes of the protesters.
In the Farabi hospital in Tehran, which specializes in eye surgery, 1,000 eye operations had to be carried out after the recent protests.
To deter future protesters and to punish the families of the dead, the regime has resorted to snatching the bodies of those killed by its security forces. Iranian families have been asked to pay thousands of dollars to receive the body of their loved ones, as reported by the BBC.
The Khamenei regime’s extremely violent response is based on years of experience assisting Bashar al-Assad. IRGC officials and advisors were there from the beginning of the Arab Spring, helping Assad put down the popular protests. Khamenei regime operatives have 10 years of experience and experiments in Syria, which they are now applying against Iranians. Through Assad, they learned what works and what does not.
A crucial lesson they learned was that if you are prepared to ruthlessly kill your own people, you will stay in power. The only danger is if a foreign power can launch a land invasion to overthrow you, either directly or through proxy. Assad fell because Al Jolani, assisted by the Turks, overthrew him in a land attack.
Much to Khamenei's delight, there are no foreign or local actors in Iran or on its borders willing to do that. Therefore, he will use his regime’s monopoly of power to the full if the protesters return to the streets again.
Many Iranians are now mourning. The number of Iranians killed during the recent uprising is unprecedented in modern Iranian history.
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The regime has put the number at 3,117 so far, according to the Iranian semi-official Tasnim news agency. But few believe in its accuracy. The real number is believed to be much higher than that. The lowest credible number is by the Human Rights Activists News Agency. It has put the total number killed at 6,961.
Much higher numbers have been presented elsewhere. The Sunday Times, quoting doctors inside Iran, put the number of fatalities at 16,500 and the injured at 330,000. A recent report by the London-based Iran International channel, citing sources in Iran, says 36,500 people have so far been killed by the regime.
What creates concern among many Iranians is whether Trump reaches a nuclear deal with the Khamenei regime. That would be viewed as a double betrayal by Trump.
First, because on Jan 13, 2026, Trump publicly promised protesting Iranians that “help is on its way,” in the clearest signal yet that he might take military action against the Iranian regime. He also called on them to “keep protesting.” Iranians kept protesting, with many risks, facing Khamenei's snipers, submachine and jeep-mounted machine guns. But to date, no help has arrived.
If Trump reaches a deal with the Khamenei regime over the nuclear program, it would be viewed by many Iranians as giving the regime in Tehran international legitimacy, thus a betrayal. This is the opposite of what many Iranians want. They want the regime to be isolated and ostracized. They want it to be attacked by American bombers and missiles. Not feted by Trump for having concluded a landmark nuclear deal.
Meanwhile, Iranians are anguished at the plight of their murdered countrymen. Many of those killed and arrested were young people. This includes seemingly conservative cities such as Mashhad, the birthplace of Khamenei and home of the Imam Reza mausoleum.
Iranians in the diaspora are doing their best to assist their compatriots at home through protests and in the media.
However, the Qatar regime-owned Al Jazeera is one of the very few foreign TV channels allowed to broadcast from Iran. The Qatari regime mouthpiece has refused to report on the terrible killings in Iran. Since the Qataris see the Khamenei regime as an important partner in supporting Hamas, unlike in Gaza, Al Jazeera remains silent.
This is seemingly Al Jazeera’s grotesque hypocrisy. Through its coverage, the channel says that Palestinian and Hamas lives are worth infinitely more than the lives of thousands of Iranians massacred by Qatar’s friends in Tehran.
Dr. Meir Javedanfar is an Iranian-Israeli lecturer, author, and commentator. He teaches various Iran-related courses at Reichman University in Herzliya, Israel.
His X handle @Meirja.