Japan allocates $10 million in humanitarian aid for Iran

The investigation draws in part on a list of people recorded at Gharazi Hospital during the crackdown. Documents reviewed by Iran International have so far confirmed the identities of 24 people who died after being taken there.

Iran International has previously reported on several deaths connected to the hospital, including those of Iraj Kiani, Mohammadreza Saberi, Ahmadreza Mehrab Beik, Mehdi Masoumi and Mona Hosseini.

Those reports described a pattern of direct gunfire at protesters, denial of medical treatment, bodies removed without family consent, delayed release of remains, pressure on relatives and demands for large payments before bodies were handed over.

Hospital under security control

Witnesses, relatives and medical sources described the hospital as operating under tight security control during the three-day period.

They said security personnel controlled the hospital, many bodies were removed without informing families and records relating to some of the dead and wounded disappeared from the hospital's admission system.

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  Families help identify more victims linked to Alghadir hospital

More than 100 injured people were brought to the hospital on the evening of January 9, according to information received by Iran International. A hospital source said the names of a number of injured and killed were removed from the electronic registration system shortly after being entered.

One medical staff member estimated that 140 bodies linked to the hospital were identified or seen during the unrest, though other sources suggested the real figure may have been considerably higher.

Morgue accounts

Medical sources and eyewitnesses said the hospital morgue reached capacity on the nights of January 8 and 9, with bodies stacked on top of one another. Several sources also said that some wounded people were transferred there alongside those already dead.

One member of the medical staff told Iran International that groaning could be heard from inside one of the body bags after it reached the morgue, suggesting that at least one person was still alive. Security personnel, the source said, prevented staff from approaching the individual.

Witnesses also described bodies being moved to external storage facilities after the morgue became full.

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  Pay for bullets: How Iran pressures families after killing protesters

Families told Iran International that some bodies were withheld for several days before being released under heavy security restrictions, with payments of between five billion and 10 billion rials, roughly $3,500 to $7,000 at the time, reportedly demanded before remains were returned.

The reports contrast with an announcement by Iran's Legal Medicine Organization on January 12 that examinations of those injured during the protests and the release of victims' bodies would be free of charge.

Protester's final hours

Among the cases documented is that of Farid Seifi, who was shot during the protests on January 8.

Witnesses said a security officer fired from a rooftop, striking him in the heart. His family took him to Gharazi Hospital while he was still breathing, but he later died there.

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  How one Tehran hospital became a window into Iran’s January massacre

People close to the family said security personnel subsequently removed his body. After several days and the payment of a substantial sum, his body were returned and buried under heavy security on January 15.

He had been married for only one year and eight months, and his wife was pregnant with triplets when he was killed.

Information from the streets of Isfahan also indicates that Gharazi Hospital became the destination for many people wounded by direct fire from security forces during the protests.

A witness said thousands of people had gathered when security forces advanced from the nearby streets on January 9. Officers first used tear gas and long-range fire before moving closer and opening direct fire on the crowd, according to the witness.

Several people fell after a burst of gunfire, forcing protesters to flee through side streets, the witness said.

One protester was struck by three bullets. "People tried to call emergency services, but the lines were busy," the witness said. "Eventually, several people stopped a car and asked the driver to take the protester's body to the hospital."

Wounded teenager says hospital opened judicial case

In a separate account, an 18-year-old identified as Mehdi said he was shot with live ammunition from about 10 meters away during protests in Isfahan on January 8, with the bullet striking above his knee.

He said protesters first took him to a nearby house, where they stemmed the bleeding. "As the number of wounded increased and space ran out, some protesters were treated in residential parking garages," he said.

Because of heavy blood loss, Mehdi later sought treatment at Gharazi Hospital, where he said staff opened a judicial case for him. Security agents visited his home several times after his hospital visit, he added.

Accounts received by Iran International show that fear of arrest, torture or being killed at hospitals led many wounded protesters to avoid medical centers altogether or leave shortly after arriving. Some instead received treatment in homes and parking garages with the help of local residents and medical staff.

The pattern has also meant that the true number of people wounded and killed was never fully recorded in official systems or, in some cases, disappeared after initial registration.

Iran International's campaign into the small town of Mamasani killings in Fars province has previously documented similar accounts of wounded protesters receiving treatment at home because they feared arrest at hospitals.

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  How a small town became an early flashpoint of Iran’s January bloodshed

The campaign to establish the facts surrounding the January protest crackdown continues by collecting, examining and verifying accounts from witnesses, victims' families, medical staff and local sources.

Testimony reviewed by Iran International has made Gharazi Hospital one of the central locations in the investigation. Multiple sources described it not only as a hospital where wounded protesters were denied treatment, but also as a site where bodies were used to intimidate families, extract payments, conceal evidence and erase traces of the killings.

Singapore's Maritime and Port Authority (MPA) said on Friday it was "deeply concerned" after a Singapore-registered container ship was struck by an unknown projectile while leaving the Strait of Hormuz.

The authority said the Ever Lovely sustained minor damage to its bridge on June 25 while sailing about 3.6 nautical miles off Oman's Khawr Naiwah.

All 21 crew members were safe and the vessel completed its transit through the strait and continued its voyage.

The MPA described the incident as "unprovoked, unjustifiable, and a breach of international law," adding that it remained in close contact with the ship's management company.

Evergreen Marine, the vessel's owner, said the ship's navigation systems and main engine were operating normally and there were no seaworthiness concerns.

British counterterrorism police carried out searches at two residential addresses in northwest London as part of an investigation into suspected offenses under the National Security Act linked to Iran.

Counter Terrorism Policing London said the searches took place on Wednesday and that no arrests had been made.

Police said the investigation was not connected to recent arson attacks targeting venues in northwest and east London, including several linked to the Jewish community.

“We do not believe there to be any imminent threat to the public, nor to any particular communities, individuals or venues in connection with this matter,” said Commander Helen Flanagan, head of Counter Terrorism Policing London.

She said police had seen “a marked increase in the tempo” of investigations linked to national security and state threats over the past year, describing the case as part of broader efforts to disrupt hostile activity.

Iranian Deputy Foreign Minister Kazem Gharibabadi said on Friday that safe navigation through the Strait of Hormuz could not be guaranteed through "ambiguous arrangements," parallel shipping routes or decisions made without regard to Iran as a littoral state.

"Safe passage in the Strait of Hormuz cannot be guaranteed through ambiguous arrangements, parallel routes or decision-making outside Iran's considerations as a coastal state," Gharibabadi wrote on X.

He said any "credible framework" for navigation must be based on coordination with Iran and on Article Five of the Islamabad memorandum of understanding.

"Otherwise, the designated parallel route will be suspended," he said.

The arrangement follows months of confrontation and is designed to reduce the risk of renewed escalation. But it does not settle the core dispute between Washington and Tehran: how much uranium enrichment Iran will be allowed to retain, and under what conditions.

That question has long been the hardest part of any agreement. The latest understanding may ease immediate tensions, but it leaves unanswered what comes next and whether follow-on talks can produce a more durable settlement.

"The question is, do the follow-on talks yield a final deal that everyone can live with, do we go back to conflict, or do we just keep kicking the can down the road," Priddy said. "I think the most probable outcome is that they keep extending it."

Iran is unlikely to give up enrichment permanently, while the Trump administration has shown little interest in returning to a JCPOA-style framework that would allow limited enrichment under international safeguards.

Priddy said any long-term arrangement would probably need to include monitored enrichment, even if that remains politically difficult for Washington to accept.

"Iran is not going to concede to giving up enrichment forever," he said. "If we got to the point where the US could say yes, you could have limited enrichment under safeguards, a lot of other things start to become negotiable."

Priddy also said hardliners in Tehran may believe they have gained leverage after threatening the Strait of Hormuz, particularly after demonstrating they could use energy pressure to shape Washington's response.

"What I'm worried about at this point is I think there's a lot of hubris in Tehran right now among hardliners that they won the war," he said. "They can ask for everything now and get away with conceding very, very little."

Fears of higher gasoline prices and broader economic disruption helped push Washington toward restraint, while Persian Gulf energy infrastructure remained exposed.

Priddy described the situation as "mutually assured vulnerability," saying both sides now know they can target each other's energy infrastructure even if neither can eliminate the threat.

The regional fallout is likely to shape the next phase as much as the nuclear talks themselves. Persian Gulf states are likely to diversify their defence partnerships, while the United States may maintain a military presence in the region but with a smaller, more cautious footprint.

Israel remains the biggest wildcard in the next phase of negotiations. Washington appears intent on limiting further escalation, particularly in Lebanon, but Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu may still favour a more confrontational approach.

Priddy said he does not expect the current understanding to produce a grand bargain or a warmer relationship between Washington and Tehran. Instead, he said, the most likely outcome is a hostile but transactional relationship that is repeatedly extended rather than fundamentally resolved.