TEHRAN — Iran’s Martyrs Foundation and the State Security Council released an official account on Wednesday night of the recent unrest that has scarred the country.

They said that a total of 3,117 individuals lost their lives during the wave of January 2026 riots and terror attacks, with 2,427 recognized as martyrs.

This status has been granted to both the dedicated members of the security forces and innocent civilians who fell victim to what officials describe as a calculated campaign of urban terrorism orchestrated by the U.S. and Israel.

On January 17, the Leader of the Islamic Revolution, Ayatollah Seyyed Ali Khamenei, asserted that “agents of the U.S. and the Zionist regime” murdered “a few thousand people” during the recent unrest.

“The U.S.’s goal is to devour Iran. We find the U.S. President [Donald Trump] guilty due to the casualties, damages, and slander he inflicted upon the Iranian nation,” Ayatollah Khamenei said.

A hybrid war ‘born of military failure’

The State Security Council’s analytical statement framed the violence as a direct extension of the “12-day war” launched by the U.S. and Israel last year.

According to the State Security Council, “after the enemies realized that military aggression could not break the Iranian will, they shifted their focus to targeting social cohesion.”

While the unrest initially stemmed from peaceful demonstrations by merchants over economic hardships partly caused by years of U.S. “maximum pressure,” organized terrorist cells swiftly hijacked these grievances.

From January 8 to 9 (Dey 18-19), these groups transitioned into a phase of “maximum violence,” launching armed assaults on crowds and public property.

The goal, the security body asserts, was a “kill-and-blame” strategy (koshteh-sazi) designed to provoke further chaos and destabilize the Islamic Republic.

‘ISIS-style’ atrocities and human tragedy

The Martyrs Foundation statement compared the conduct of these foreign-backed cells to the “ruthless and violent crimes of Takfiri and Daesh [ISIS] groups.”

The report detailed how victims were “burned alive, beheaded, and mutilated,” with perpetrators showing no mercy even to the lifeless.

“By what sin were they slain?” the Foundation lamented, quoting the Holy Quran to address the deaths of 2,427 martyrs.

The human cost is illustrated by harrowing accounts that Western media outlets have largely ignored.

The brutality did not spare those dedicated to saving lives. In Rasht, nurse Marzieh Nabavinia was martyred after refusing to abandon her patients as terrorists set her clinic on fire.

Witnesses recount that she stayed to ensure the evacuation of those on IV drips, eventually succumbing to the flames within the facility.

The tragedy reached the youngest of the nation in the form of Melina Asadi, a three-year-old girl in Kermanshah.

She was shot and martyred while accompanying her father to a pharmacy to buy baby formula and medicine—a victim of the “blind ferocity” of cells that targeted passersby to manufacture chaos.

Systematic destruction of the nation

The security body also provided an inventory of the staggering damage inflicted upon the nation’s infrastructure.

In an organized attempt to cripple public services, terrorists damaged or destroyed 305 ambulances and buses, 253 bus stops, and 24 gas stations.

The financial sector was a primary target, with 750 banks and 600 ATMs vandalized.

Furthermore, the report documented attacks on 350 mosques, 89 seminaries, and 200 schools, underscoring a deliberate assault on the spiritual and educational heart of the country.

As Iran honors its 2,427 martyrs, the government has vowed that the “true architects” in Washington and Tel Aviv will be held accountable.

Despite the tragic loss of 3,117 lives, the security body concluded that the massive national unity rallies held on January 12 (Dey 22) proved the enemy has once again failed to fracture the bond between the Iranian people and their leadership.