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The scale of the crackdown has emerged piecemeal as Iran remains under an unprecedented internet shutdown that is now in its 11th day. File
| Photo Credit: Reuters
The United Nations Human Rights Council will hold an urgent special session this week on “the deteriorating human rights situation in the Islamic Republic of Iran”, a spokesman said on Tuesday (January 20, 2026).
It follows a request from Britain, Germany, Iceland, Moldova and North Macedonia and will take place on Friday (January 23), council spokesman Pascal Sim told reporters in Geneva.
In a letter addressed to the council’s President and seen by AFP, the five countries highlighted “credible reports of alarming violence, crackdowns on protesters and violations of international human rights law across the country”.
The request had received backing from more than one-third of the council’s 47 members, needed for a special session to go ahead.
The U.N. Security Council in New York met last week to discuss Iran, which is reeling from some of the biggest anti-government protests in its history and a crackdown that monitors said has killed thousands.
The scale of the crackdown has emerged piecemeal as Iran remains under an unprecedented internet shutdown that is now in its 11th day.
Despite difficulty accessing information, the Iran Human Rights non-governmental organisation says it has verified that 3,428 protesters were killed by security forces.
It warned that the true toll is likely to be far higher. The media cannot independently confirm the figure, and Iranian officials have not given an exact death toll.
Published – January 20, 2026 05:09 pm IST
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U.N. Human Rights Council to hold urgent Iran meeting on January 23
