Activists: Iran has aired 97 coerced confessions from protesters
They are shown handcuffed, their faces blurred. The confession videos, broadcast on Iranian state media, feature dramatic background music interspersed with clips appearing to show protesters attacking security forces.
Some showcase gruesome homemade weapons that authorities claim were used in the attacks. Others highlight suspects in grainy security footage, appearing to set fires or destroy property.
Iran alleges these confessions, which often include references to Israel or America, are proof of foreign plots behind Iran’s nationwide protests. Activists say they are coerced confessions, long a staple of Iran’s hard-line state television, the only broadcaster in the country.
Iranian state media has aired at least 97 confessions from protesters, many expressing remorse for their actions, since the protests began on Dec. 28, according to a rights group that is tracking the videos.
The US-based Human Rights Activists News Agency (HRANA) says that based on testimony from prior detainees, the confessions often come after psychological or physical torture—and can have serious consequences, including the death penalty.
‘Foreign-influenced’
Iranian officials have described the protests as “riots” orchestrated by the United States and Israel.
Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi has said the violence must be foreign-influenced because Iranians would never set mosques on fire.
The nearly 100 confessions broadcast over just two weeks is unprecedented for Iran, said Skylar Thompson, HRANA deputy director.
By comparison, from 2010 to 2020 there were around 350 forced confessions broadcast on state media, according to the activist groups Justice for Iran and the International Federation for Human Rights, the last major study compiled by activists.
The rights group Together Against the Death Penalty said there were 40 to 60 confessions aired in 2025.
Additionally, Iran Human Rights and Together Against the Death Penalty reported at least 37 televised confessions of people facing the death penalty in the weeks following the 2022 protests over the death of Mahsa Amini after her arrest by the country’s morality police for allegedly not wearing her hijab to the liking of authorities.
More than 500 people were killed and over 22,000 detained during the months-long protests and security crackdown, the last major protests in Iran.
Public executions
In 2024, Iran executed 975 people, the highest number since 2015, according to a report by the United Nations. Four of the executions were carried out publicly. Iran carries out executions by hanging. According to the UN report, most people in Iran are executed for drug-related offenses or murder.
Since the protests began on Dec. 28, 2025, 16,700 people have been arrested and more than 2,000 have been killed, the vast majority protesters, according to Human Rights Activists News Agency. The organization relies on a network of activists inside Iran that confirms all reported fatalities.
The Iranian government has not released overall casualty figures for the demonstrations. The AP has been unable to independently assess the toll, given that the internet is now blocked in Iran.
