Iranians will soon celebrate freedom together, says Iran's exiled queen

Finland’s Foreign Minister Elina Valtonen said on Tuesday she would summon Iran’s ambassador over what she described as a violent crackdown and an internet shutdown aimed at silencing protesters.

"I will summon the Iranian ambassador this morning," Valtonen wrote on X.

She said Iran’s authorities had shut down the internet to "kill and oppress in silence" and added that such actions would not be tolerated.

"We stand with the people of Iran - women and men alike," she said.

Valtonen said Finland was working with the EU to explore steps to help restore freedom for the Iranian people.

Former US ambassador to the United Nations Nikki Haley said on Tuesday there was no prospect of negotiations with Iran’s leadership, arguing that the collapse of the Iranian regime would be a major accomplishment for the Trump administration’s efforts to pursue peace in the Middle East.

“There is no negotiating with the Iranian regime. If the Iranian regime falls, the head of the terrorist snake falls with it,” Haley wrote on X. “This could be a major accomplishment for the Trump administration finally making peace in the Middle East a possibility.”

Iran’s Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi said Tehran is ready for any action by the United States, including military steps, in an interview aired by Al Jazeera.

"We are prepared for any move," Araghchi said. "If they want to test the military option again, which they have already tried, we are ready."

He said Iran’s level of readiness is now much higher, both in quantity and quality, than before the 12-day war in June.

"Our preparedness is much stronger than before, in both scale and capability," he said. "We are ready for all options - whether they choose a military option or a diplomatic one, under the conditions I mentioned."

Araghchi said the main question was whether Washington would choose what he called a wise path.

"The important thing is how much a rational course is taken," he said. "Unfortunately, some are trying to drag America into war and endless wars to serve Israel’s interests."

"We will see how much the United States chooses the path of wisdom," he added.

After cross-checking information obtained from reliable sources, including the Supreme National Security Council and the presidential office, the initial estimate by the Islamic Republic’s security institutions is that at least 12,000 people were killed in this nationwide killing.

Iran International reached the conclusion after reviewing information it received from a source close to the Supreme National Security Council; two sources in the presidential office; accounts from several sources within the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps in the cities of Mashhad, Kermanshah, and Isfahan; testimonies from eyewitnesses and families of those killed; field reports; data linked to medical centers; and information provided by doctors and nurses in various cities.

The killing was carried out on the direct order of Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei, with the explicit knowledge and approval of the heads of all three branches of government, and with an order for live fire issued by the Supreme National Security Council, Iran International has learned.

Iran International’s Editorial Board has set out its findings on the latest crackdown in a statement titled “The killing of 12,000 Iranians will not be buried in silence,” calling for documents and testimony by the victims' families.

The full text of the statement follows:

Iran is under a coordinated blackout aimed not only at security control but at concealing the truth. Internet cuts, crippled communications, media shutdowns, and intimidation of journalists and witnesses point to one goal: preventing a vast and historic crime from being seen.

In recent days, after receiving scattered but shocking and deeply troubling reports, Iran International has focused on verifying information to build a clearer picture of the scale of repression and the killings during the latest protests.

In a country where authorities deliberately restrict access to information, such an assessment is difficult and time-consuming – particularly because rushing to publish incomplete casualty figures risks errors in documenting events and could distort the true scale of this tragedy.

From Sunday, the volume of evidence and the convergence of accounts reached a point where a relatively accurate assessment became possible.

Over the past two days, Iran International’s editorial board has reviewed – through a rigorous, multi-stage process and in accordance with established professional standards – information received from a source close to the Supreme National Security Council; two sources in the presidential office; accounts from several sources within the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps in the cities of Mashhad, Kermanshah, and Isfahan; testimonies from eyewitnesses and families of those killed; field reports; data linked to medical centers; and information provided by doctors and nurses in various cities.

Based on these reviews, we have concluded that:

In the largest killing in Iran’s contemporary history – carried out largely over two consecutive nights, Thursday and Friday, January 8 and 9 – at least 12,000 people were killed.

In terms of geographic scope, intensity of violence, and the number of deaths in a short time span, this killing is unprecedented in Iran’s history.

Based on information received, those killed were mainly shot by forces of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps and the Basij.

This killing was fully organized, not the result of “sporadic” and “unplanned” clashes.

Information received from the Supreme National Security Council and the presidential office indicates that the killing was carried out on the direct order of Ali Khamenei, with the explicit knowledge and approval of the heads of all three branches of government, and with an order for live fire issued by the Supreme National Security Council.

Many of those killed were young people under the age of 30.

Casualty estimate

Based on available data and cross-checking information obtained from reliable sources, including the Supreme National Security Council and the presidential office, the initial estimate by the Islamic Republic’s security institutions is that at least 12,000 people were killed in this nationwide killing.

It is clear that, under a communications blockade and without direct access to information, confirming a final figure will require further, detailed documentation.

Experience in recent years shows that security institutions have consistently withheld information and avoided recording and announcing accurate figures for those killed.

Iran International commits to refining this figure with the help of its audience – by collecting documentation, cross-checking accounts, and verifying information on an ongoing basis – so that no name is lost and no victim’s family is left unheard.

Communications and media blackout

Media outlets inside the country have been shut down. Hundreds of national and local newspapers, an unprecedented development in the history of Iran’s press, have fallen silent since Thursday.

Today, aside from the Islamic Republic of Iran Broadcasting (IRIB), only a handful of news websites remain active inside the country, and they too operate under censorship and the direct control of security institutions.

This is not “crisis control.” It is an admission of fear that the truth will be exposed.

Call for evidence

Iran International calls on all compatriots inside and outside the country to send any documents, videos, photographs, audio testimony, and information related to those killed, medical centers, locations of clashes, the time and place of incidents, and any other verifiable details from the events of recent days.

The security of sources and confidentiality of information are our absolute priority.

Verified findings and international follow-up

After careful verification and assessment, Iran International will publish its findings and provide them to all relevant international bodies and institutions.

The Islamic Republic cannot conceal this crime by cutting the people of Iran off from the world. The truth will be recorded; the names of those killed will be preserved; and this massacre will not be buried in silence.

These honored dead belong not only to their grieving families and loved ones, but to the national revolution of Iranians.

Iran International Editorial Board

Iran’s anti-government protests are rooted in long-standing restrictions on girls and women, including access to education, said Malala Yousafzai, the Pakistani education activist and Nobel peace prize laureate.

Yousafzai said on X that the ongoing protests “cannot be separated from the long-standing, state-imposed restrictions on girls’ and women’s autonomy,” and added: “Iranian girls, like girls everywhere, demand a life with dignity.”

She said Iranians had warned about repression “at great personal risk” for decades and described a broader system of control shaped by “segregation, surveillance, and punishment.”

Yousafzai said Iranians were demanding the right to determine their political future, adding that it “must be driven by the Iranian people, and include the leadership of Iranian women and girls.”

“I stand with the people and girls of Iran in their call for freedom and dignity,” she wrote.