The International Bar Association (IBA) strongly condemns Iran for serious and repeated breaches of its binding obligations under international law, following an intensifying state crackdown on nationwide protests. The suppression has reportedly resulted in hundreds of deaths, thousands of arrests and a near-total shutdown of internet and telecommunications services, thereby becoming the most significant unrest in years.
The demonstrations, initially triggered in December 2025 by the devaluation of the Iranian rial and soaring costs for essential items like food and fuel, have expanded into sustained protests across cities and towns in all 31 provinces against political repression, corruption and systemic failures of governance. Despite the largely civilian and decentralised nature of the protests, Iranian authorities have responded with militarised force, deploying the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC), Basij paramilitaries and law enforcement agencies using firearms, shotguns and tear gas.
Credible reports from independent monitoring groups and images broadcast by major information networks indicate that live ammunition capable of causing death or serious injuries has been used against unarmed demonstrators including students and workers, in residential areas and near universities in multiple cities, resulting in a rapidly rising number of fatalities and serious injuries. Reports point to hundreds of fatalities and more than ten thousand arrests, many carried out without transparency or judicial oversight.
IBA President Claudio Visco stated: 'The reported use of lethal force against unarmed demonstrators is not a matter of internal security discretion - it is a clear violation of Article 6 of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights [ICCPR], to which Iran is legally bound. International law permits the use of lethal force only as a last resort when a person or others are facing an imminent threat of death or grave harm but always in strict adherence to principles of necessity, proportionality and precaution. The facts emerging from Iran point in the opposite direction.'
Since 8 January 2026, the Iranian government has imposed a near total nationwide shutdown of internet and telecommunications services. This shutdown has cut off mobile data, messaging platforms and large portions of fixed line connectivity. Digital rights organisations report that the shutdown has obstructed emergency medical assistance, prevented the documentation of abuses and shielded state conduct from scrutiny.
The IBA stresses that blanket internet shutdowns violate Articles 19 and 21 of the ICCPR, which protect freedom of expression and peaceful assembly. Such measures fail the tests of legality, necessity and proportionality required under international law.
Security forces in Iran have reportedly entered hospitals to arrest injured protesters, while allegedly medical staff have been warned against treating demonstrators. If confirmed, such actions constitute violations of Article 12 of the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights (ICESCR). Arresting injured protesters in hospitals and intimidating medical professionals represent a direct assault on the right to health and to the neutrality of medical care, which is protected even in situations of unrest. These acts deepen Iran's exposure to international legal accountability.
IBA Executive Director Dr Mark Ellis commented: 'Where a state systematically kills protesters, arbitrarily detains thousands, silences communications and obstructs access to medical care, international accountability mechanisms must be engaged without delay. What is taking place in Iran is not a series of isolated or marginal excesses by security forces; these acts amount to egregious violations of binding international law.'
At the same time, senior Iranian officials, including representatives of the Office of the Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei and the judiciary, have escalated their public rhetoric, describing protesters as 'rioters', 'terrorists' and 'agents of foreign powers'. Under Iranian domestic law, such designations may expose detainees to capital punishment or summary proceedings in violation of Article 9 ICCPR and fair trial guarantees. The intimidation of victims' families, journalists and civil society actors further undermines Article 2(3) ICCPR, which requires effective remedies for rights violations.
When all of these factors are taken together, the IBA concludes that Iran's actions reflect a systemic failure to comply with its obligations under the ICCPR, the ICESCR and customary international law, engaging government responsibility for unlawful killings, arbitrary detention, suppression of fundamental freedoms and obstruction of accountability.
These cumulative behaviours clearly indicate a pattern of conduct inconsistent with Iran's international commitments regarding the use of force, detention practices and the protection of fundamental freedoms.
The IBA echoes the United Nations Independent Fact Finding Mission on Iran in calling for the immediate cessation of unjustified and disproportionate use of force, restoration of internet access, protection of medical neutrality and full respect for the rights to life, freedom of expression and peaceful assembly.
