Ebrahim Azizi, the head of the National Security Commission of the Iranian regime’s parliament, confirmed the shooting of people and their killing in front of Basij bases and law enforcement centers during Iran’s nationwide protests.
On Monday, January 19, Azizi said at a press conference, referring to the killing of protesters in Iran: “Some of these individuals were innocent and had no role. Some others were confronted and dealt with in front of military and law enforcement headquarters and Basij bases when they wanted to attack these locations.”
He acknowledged that thousands of people were killed during the nationwide protests, while adding that announcing the exact number of those killed by the Iranian regime’s security institutions “requires review and analysis.”
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Azizi described the “figures reported by foreign media” regarding the number of those killed as “completely false” and added: “The numbers are much lower than what foreign media report.”
The Sunday Times newspaper reported on January 17 that during the nationwide protests of the Iranian people in January 2026, at least 16,500 to 18,000 protesters were killed and between 330,000 and 360,000 others were injured.
“Restoring the internet depends on security conditions”
Azizi went on to address the Iranian regime’s move to impose a nationwide internet shutdown and said that if “security conditions become suitable,” the Supreme National Security Council and the National Security Council will decide on the internet situation within “the next few days.”
Repeating the positions of other Iranian regime officials, the head of the parliament’s National Security Commission called protesting citizens “rioters” and added that the internet shutdown by the Islamic Republic was carried out with the aim of “managing riots.”
The Iranian Regime cut off the internet across Iran shortly after the start of the protests on the evening of January 8.
Since then, the Iranian people’s connection with the outside world has been severely limited, but even the few accounts, images, and videos that have been released point to the horrific scale of the systematic killing of citizens.
NetBlocks, an independent internet monitoring organization, said on January 19, referring to the passage of 12 days since the internet shutdown in Iran, that the level of nationwide internet connectivity remains minimal.
⏱️ Over 300 hours have passed since #Iran imposed a national internet blackout to hide atrocities. Meanwhile, the regime uses whitelisted networks and places op-eds to shape opinion abroad.
Attempts to obscure the truth will be documented in real time: The world is watching. pic.twitter.com/UdesRCOyUg
— NetBlocks (@netblocks) January 21, 2026
“Trump is unstable and delusional”
The head of the parliament’s National Security Commission went on to describe Donald Trump, the president of the United States, as “unstable” and “delusional,” saying that his remarks about the Iranian people’s protests were “derived from narcissism.”
Honoring PMOI martyr Abbasali Ramezani, 74, a longtime political prisoner, who was shot and killed in Mashhad (Vakilabad Boulevard) when regime forces opened fire during Iran's nationwide uprising.
Abbasali had already spent decades paying the price for demanding freedom. He was… pic.twitter.com/blNd4GTOxG
— People's Mojahedin Organization of Iran (PMOI/MEK) (@Mojahedineng) January 19, 2026
Azizi attributed the widespread killing of protesters to the United States and Israel and added that these two countries were seeking “manufactured deaths” in the protests to achieve their “sinister goals.”
He threatened that the regime would “take revenge for the blood of the martyrs from the enemies.”
On January 17, Trump described Ali Khamenei, Tehran’s dictator, as “a sick man” and said it is time to seek new leadership in Iran.
