Large-scale demonstrations against Iran's ruling theocracy have continued for more than two weeks now.
09:27, Mon, Jan 12, 2026 Updated: 09:31, Mon, Jan 12, 2026
iran has been experiencing mass protests (Image: X)
Several chilling videos circulating online show bodies piled up on the streets of Iran as the country turns into a “war zone”. The videos show a large number of people waiting outside a forensic institute in Kahrizak, south of the capital, Tehran.
As per data from the US-based Human Rights Activist News Agency, around 495 protesters and 48 security personnel nationwide have died as mass protests continue in Iran. Another 10,600 people have been detained over the fortnight of unrest, the agency says. Large‑scale demonstrations against Iran’s ruling theocracy have continued for more than two weeks now, with huge crowds gathering in both Tehran and cities across the country.
around 495 protesters and 48 security personnel nationwide have died as mass protests continue in Iran. (Image: UGC/AFP via Getty Images)
Footage has surfaced from the Forensic Diagnostic and Laboratory Centre of Tehran Province, a morgue in Kahrizak, showing rows of body bags and around 180 shrouded bodies laid out, many of them exposed. In the video, people searching for missing relatives can be heard crying out in anguish.
The images have been deliberately blurred to shield the identities of those present, as they could be at risk of further persecution by the authorities.
Robina Aminian, 23, was shot in the head during the protests. A fashion student at a Tehran university, she had joined the protests after finishing her classes.
Two relatives told Sky News that officials attempted to stop the family from recovering her body. They eventually succeeded in taking her to Kermanshah in western Iran, where she was buried quietly and in secret.
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Dozens of bodies in body bags laid out for family members in iran (Image: UGC/AFP via Getty Images)
Iran's President Masoud Pezeshkian has blamed the US and Israel for the unrest.
"They have trained certain individuals inside the country and abroad, brought terrorists into the country from outside, set mosques on fire, and attacked markets and guilds in Rasht, setting the bazaar ablaze," he said without providing evidence.
Iran's attorney general said anyone protesting would be considered an "enemy of God" - an offence that carries the death penalty - while Khamenei has dismissed demonstrators as a "bunch of vandals" seeking to "please" Trump.
On Sunday the country announced three days of mourning for what it called "martyrs killed in Iranian national battle against the US and Israel".
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