On Thursday, January 15, the nineteenth day of nationwide protests and uprising in Iran, the People’s Mojahedin Organization of Iran (PMOI/MEK) announced that the total number of arrests and detentions related to the nationwide uprising in the country, from September 28, 2025, to January 14, 2026, has exceeded 50,000.
According to the report, some detainees were arrested en masse at protest sites and later released, and their exact numbers are unknown.
Additionally, surprise arrests through raids on homes, neighborhoods, and even closed workplaces continue.
Concerns Over the Execution of Protesters by the Iranian Regime#IranProt #FreeIran2026ests #IranRevolutionhttps://t.co/fIfjxohGvg
— Iran Focus (@Iran_Focus) January 14, 2026
These figures come from field investigations in 144 cities and inquiries in 76 other cities, collected from eyewitnesses, families of detainees, local staff, and prisoners.
However, it is evident that obtaining an exact and complete count would only be possible through the establishment of an international fact-finding mission and visits to all prisons and detention centers of Iran’s regime.
Reminder of the judiciary chief’s admission of ninety thousand arrests during the 2022 uprising
Ejei, head of Iran’s regime judiciary, admitted on April 21, 2025, that during the 2022 uprising “about ninety thousand legal cases” were filed. In this admission, he stated that among the detainees were students, teachers, men and women, and various sectors of society, including workers.
UN Security Council meeting on the wave of crackdown in Iran
At the international level, the United Nations Security Council is scheduled to hold an emergency session on Thursday afternoon, January 15, regarding the situation in Iran. This meeting is being convened at the request of the United States and follows warnings from human rights organizations about escalating repression. Previously, Amnesty International had called for urgent action by the Security Council to prevent further killings and emphasized that judicial immunity for perpetrators of repression must end.
