Mai Sato: Islamic Republic used the war as cover for repression; 34 protesters executed

Mai Sato, the UN Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights in Iran, told the UN General Assembly in her new report that the Islamic Republic has executed at least 34 people in connection with the protests of Dey and Bahman 1404 (December 2025 to February 2026). According to her, the war gave the Islamic Republic's officials cover to intensify the crackdown.

The report covers the period from late January to August 2026. Sato says the arrest, trial and execution of protesters from the January uprising are still going on, and that the protesters' families are also under pressure.

Trials lasting minutes and forced confessions

According to the report, the right to a fair trial in Iran has been severely undermined. Some court sessions are held online and last only a few minutes. Forced confessions are broadcast by state media shortly after arrest, and dozens of defendants in cases carrying the death penalty are tried together.

Sato says the Islamic Republic calls protesters "agents of aggressor states" and treats peaceful expression as a threat to national security, a charge that has led to execution in some cases. The case of Alireza Raeisi, the executed protester from Isfahan, in which the knives from his workplace became the evidence of his "moharebeh" ("waging war against God"), is an example of these courts.

Internet shutdowns and poverty before the war

The Special Rapporteur also called the internet shutdowns ordered by the authorities a violation of citizens' rights: people were left without news of the attacks and of the fate of their loved ones, and the livelihoods of many, especially women working in the informal economy, were damaged. She says years of economic and environmental mismanagement had left Iranian families vulnerable even before the war.

Sato also called for an investigation into civilian casualties of US and Israeli military operations, including a strike on a primary school in Minab.

The Special Rapporteur's demands

Sato called on the Islamic Republic to stop executions, release those detained for exercising their fundamental rights, guarantee the right to a fair trial and investigate all deaths caused by state forces. She described impunity for human rights violators as the common thread of the three recent UN reports on Iran. The Islamic Republic had not responded to the report at the time of publication.

According to the UN Special Rapporteur, at least 34 protesters of the uprising of December 2025 and January–February 2026 have been executed.