Mai Sato, the United Nations Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights in Iran, has expressed serious concern about conditions inside the country, warning that individuals may face the death penalty solely for participating in protests.
In a report published on X on February 12, 2026, she stated that she has received accounts of “forced confessions” from protesters. She wrote: “Today, we do not know how many people have been detained, where they are being held, or under what conditions; we do not know how many have been sentenced to death or have already been executed.”
A major wave of protests on January 7 and 8, 2026, which coincided with a call for demonstrations by Prince Reza Pahlavi, brought hundreds of thousands of people into the streets across the country. Authorities reportedly responded with live fire and mass arrests.
The government has not provided transparent or comprehensive figures regarding the number of detainees, either in this round of unrest or in previous ones. Unofficial reports from inside the country suggest that thousands have been arrested, with at least one report citing figures exceeding 40,000.
According to Sato, Iranian authorities responded to her inquiries, including questions concerning the cases of Ehsan Faridi and Zahra Tabari. However, her report indicates that she was not satisfied with their responses. She noted that officials described the sources of the allegations as “uninformed” or “hostile” and maintained that all judicial proceedings had been conducted in accordance with the law.
