Three from same family killed during protests in Iran

Plainclothes security forces and members of Iran’s Revolutionary Guards have targeted the homes of families of people killed in recent protests in eastern Tehran, sources familiar with the matter told Iran International.

The sources said the forces carried out intimidating raids, including firing shots, hurling insults and ransacking homes.

They added that families were instructed to collect the bodies of those killed during pre-dawn hours and to conduct burials quickly and privately, or face the risk of collective burials.

The sources also said families were told they would be charged fees related to the use of live ammunition.

The project aims to build a national network on a Huawei-based platform, doing work similar to services provided by Iranian cloud firm ArvanCloud (Abr Arvan) but on a far larger scale, the information said.

It is intended to host widely used public services as well as banking and payment platforms and other critical infrastructure.

Huawei did not respond to Iran International’s request for comment.

According to the information, the project is in its final stages and is being brought online under ArvanCloud’s management, through a company called Ayandeh Afzay-e Karaneh.

The project is linked to individuals and companies under US sanctions, including Fanap and its CEO Shahab Javanmardi – sanctioned by the US Treasury in August over alleged ties to Iran’s intelligence ministry and the Revolutionary Guards.

Sources said Huawei supplied the required equipment covertly, and the company’s name does not appear in related documentation.

President Masoud Pezeshkian visited the construction site of the project in March 2025. According to the sources, China’s ambassador also visited the project.

Sources said the project is estimated to cost between $700 million and $1 billion, and that all equipment – supplied by Huawei in China – entered Iran after the 12-day war, shipped in 24 containers.

Sources said the data center would have capacity for about 400 server racks and would incorporate ArvanCloud, with much of the country’s core digital infrastructure eventually moved to the site.

They said the data center is located beneath Fanap’s administrative building in Pardis IT Town, about 20 kilometers northeast of Tehran, in a place designed to be difficult to strike by missile.

Blackout continues

Iran has remained under sweeping internet and phone disruptions as protests continue, limiting reporting on casualties, according to rights groups and internet monitors.

UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Volker Türk said he was deeply disturbed by reports of violence during nationwide protests and expressed concern about internet and communications shutdowns, calling on authorities to restore access.

NetBlocks said on Wednesday that Iran remained largely offline as the nationwide blackout passed its 132nd hour, adding that limited connectivity was obscuring the scale of casualties.

Fars news agency, which is affiliated with the IRGC, argued that internet restrictions should continue as protests persist, linking the limits to what it described as security concerns.

Iran International has reported that, amid the communications shutdown, particularly on January 7 and 8, at least 12,000 protesters were killed.

Iranian government spokesperson Fatemeh Mohajerani said decisions on internet and phone cuts were outside the control of government ministries in a security situation.

US Senator Lindsey Graham said he expects US help for Iranian protesters “soon,” adding the ongoing unrest as a push to replace the country’s current leadership.

“They don’t want to live in a country where a 16‑year‑old girl can be killed for not wearing the headscarf,” Graham told Iran International in an interview on Tuesday. “Help is on the way.”

“People are being killed, I think, by the thousands. Donald J. Trump is not Barack Obama. When he says help is on the way, he means it to everyone out in the streets risking your life. Your children and their children’s children will benefit from your bravery,” the Republican senator from South Carolina said.

At least 12,000 people were killed in the largest killing in Iran’s contemporary history, carried out largely over two consecutive nights on January 8 and 9, Iran International’s editorial board concluded, based on a review of sources and medical data.

Iran is under a coordinated blackout aimed not only at security control but at concealing the truth, reflected in internet cuts, crippled communications, media shutdowns, and the intimidation of journalists and witnesses.

Publication was delayed until the evidence converged.

The assessment is based on a multi-stage review of information 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 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 multiple cities.

Many of those killed were under the age of 30.

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Footage sent to Iran International from Kahrizak, south of Tehran, shows several dead bodies in body bags. According to eyewitness accounts accompanying the videos, dozens of bodies are visible at the site, with additional bodies reportedly located in another nearby industrial shed.

Videos earlier sent to Iran International from Fardis, Karaj, and Alghadir Hospital in eastern Tehran showed similar scenes of dead bodies falling on the ground, pointing to an unfolding mass killing that is not confined to a limited number of cities.

The internet shutdown that started on January 8 have made it impossible to obtain a full picture of events on the ground. However, the volume and consistency of incoming accounts suggest that lethal force is being widely used to disperse protesters.

The most conservative estimates indicate that at least 2,000 people have been killed over the past 48 hours. A doctor in the northern city of Rasht told Iran International that one hospital alone received at least 70 bodies.

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