As the sun set on January 15, 2026, the silence emanating from Iran’s digital sphere marked a grim anniversary: exactly one week of total internet blackout, 168 hours imposed by authorities to plunge the nation into “digital darkness.” Despite the regime’s attempt to sever the country from the outside world, information trickled out revealing defiance and draconian repression as the nationwide uprising entered its 19th day, spreading to more than 200 cities across all 31 provinces. Hit-and-run clashes continued Thursday night in Tehran’s Pirouzi and Tehranpars districts, Rafsanjan where regime buildings burned, Kermanshah, Khorramabad under tank deployment, Isfahan, Mashhad, and others, with rebellious youths chanting anti-regime slogans and setting IRGC sites ablaze
Campaign of Mass Arrests
The People’s Mojahedin Organization of Iran (PMOI/MEK) announced that arrests from December 28, 2025, to January 14, 2026, exceeded 50,000 across 144 cities based on eyewitness investigations, with security forces raiding homes, neighborhoods, and workplaces. This surpasses the pace of the 2022 uprising where 90,000 cases were filed, amid reports of over 3,000 protesters killed and forces entering hospitals to detain the wounded. The regime deploys military drones to hunt civilians as “enemy combatants,” escalating technological warfare against unarmed protesters.
Mrs. Maryam Rajavi’s Urgent Call
Mrs. Maryam Rajavi, NCRI President-elect, described the mass arrests and killings as Khamenei’s desperation, warning “he will stop at no crime” to preserve clerical rule and calling for an immediate UN fact-finding mission to prisons. She hailed the uprising’s persistence despite brutality, paving the way for a democratic republic rejecting both Shah and mullahs.
Global Condemnation Mounts
G7 Foreign Ministers condemned the “brutal repression” and warned of restrictive measures, while New Zealand’s Foreign Minister urged citizens to leave amid killings. Twelve former EU leaders urged recognizing Iranians’ right to resist tyranny for a democratic republic, citing chants against oppressor Shah or Leader, and demanded IRGC terrorist listing. US lawmakers like Senators Cruz and McCormick voiced bipartisan support, stating regime overthrow enhances global safety.
G7 Foreign Ministers condemned the “brutal repression” and warned of restrictive measures, while New Zealand’s Foreign Minister urged citizens to leave amid killings. Twelve former EU leaders urged recognizing Iranians’ right to resist tyranny for a democratic republic, citing chants against oppressor Shah or Leader, and demanded IRGC terrorist listing. US lawmakers like Senators Cruz and McCormick voiced bipartisan support, stating regime overthrow enhances global safety.