Tehran, 20 Jan 2026 — Iran may lift its internet blackout within days, according to a senior member of parliament, following a nationwide shutdown imposed as authorities moved to suppress the country’s most severe unrest since the 1979 Islamic Revolution.
Communications were cut as security forces used overwhelming force to crush protests that erupted in late December. Although Iran’s streets have been largely quiet for a week, the scale of the violence continues to emerge. An Iranian official told Reuters the confirmed death toll exceeds 5,000, including around 500 members of the security forces. Western-based rights groups also report thousands of fatalities, with some of the worst clashes occurring in Kurdish regions in the northwest.
In a rare sign of vulnerability in state control, Iranian state television appeared to be briefly hacked late Sunday, airing speeches by US President Donald Trump and the exiled son of Iran’s last shah, both calling on Iranians to revolt.
US-based Kurdish rights group HRANA said many protesters suffered severe injuries from pellet fire to the face and chest, leading to blindness, internal bleeding and organ damage. Meanwhile, state media reported arrests continuing across multiple provinces, including Tehran, Kerman and Semnan.
Opposition figures accuse authorities of firing on peaceful demonstrators. Iran’s clerical leadership maintains that armed groups, allegedly encouraged by foreign powers, attacked hospitals and mosques.
The death toll far exceeds that of previous crackdowns in 2022 and 2009. The unrest prompted repeated warnings from President Trump, who threatened military action before easing his stance after the violence subsided. Gulf states, fearing wider regional escalation, engaged in urgent diplomacy with both Washington and Tehran.
Iran’s ambassador to Saudi Arabia, Alireza Enayati, warned that “igniting any conflict will have consequences for the entire region.”
Internet and international phone services were largely cut in the days leading up to the most intense violence.
