Immediate Activation of the Responsibility to Protect (R2P) in Iran

To: The United Nations Security Council and the International Community

From: The undersigned, representing the Iranian people voice and global advocates for human rights.

Classification: Genocide, Crimes Against Humanity, War Crimes
Urgency Level: CRITICAL - Ongoing Mass Casualty Event

I. Declaration of Manifest Failure to Protect

We urgently call upon the UN Security Council to uphold its commitment to the Responsibility to Protect (R2P) doctrine. The Islamic Republic of Iran has not only failed to protect its population but has transitioned into the primary perpetrator of Crimes Against Humanity and acts tantamount to Genocide. The state is engaged in a systematic campaign to destroy the Iranian nation and its future generations. The Islamic Republic operates not as a legitimate government, but as a criminal regime that has held the Iranian people hostage for nearly five decades. Following the January 8th massacre, the regime has effectively transformed the entire nation into a vast concentration camp.

The Case for R2P Activation: The threshold for R2P intervention has been crossed as presented below. The state is not merely repressing dissent; it is engaged in a campaign of extermination against its own citizens. The regime is treating its citizens not as people to be governed, but as enemy combatants to be liquidated.

II. The Scale of the Catastrophe: A Campaign of Extermination

Before addressing the legal criteria for intervention, the world must understand the sheer scale of the slaughter currently unfolding. This is not "crowd control"; it is a war of annihilation against the Iranian people.

• Massacre of unarmed protesters: Many report including IranIntl estimate 36,500 were slaughtered in deadliest massacre of 21st century , other sources reports a death toll north of 90,000 of Iranians (IranIntl report, CNN report). Further 330,000+ injured and 56,000 detained. Over 12,000 individuals have lost their eyes to direct, close range shots. Video Evidence: SUSTAINED automatic gunfire by security forces in Tehran (January 9, 2026). (Video of armored vehicle running over unarmed people standing in the street. report) At the same time regime is wiping out the evidence of crimes by putting the at least one Refrigerator facility holding bodies of protestors to flames. (More eye-witness reports.)
• A Second Massacre by Judicial Unfolding: With jails overflowing, the regime has initiated swift, secret executions. Detainees—often youth—are coerced into false confessions and hanged immediately without trial under the charge of Moharebeh ("War with God"). The judiciary has ordered that these cases "must not be delayed" signaling a mass liquidation of prisoners behind closed doors to hide the true death toll (report), (211 hanging in the past 3 weeks, 1 execution every 2 hours link).
• "Shot to Kill" Policy (Genocidal Intent): In a clear display of intent to destroy life, security forces have blocked access to blood banks. When hospital staff requested urgent blood for the wounded, they were told: "We’ve shot to kill. What do they need blood for?" Hospitals are under siege and blood banks are seized.
• Systematic Sexual Violence & Torture: Rights groups (The Guardian's report) confirm that teenagers, including a 16-year-old in Kermanshah, have been sexually assaulted during arrest. Following reports of the regime's violent treatment of detained protesters, messages received by Iran International indicate the use of torture and injection of unidentified syringes into prisoners.
• Dehumanization at Checkpoints: Reminiscent of the darkest eras of the 20th century, security forces have established "Stop Stations" on roads, forcing citizens to undress to check for bullet wounds or signs of protest participation—treating injuries as crimes rather than medical emergencies.

III. Pillar I: Evidence of War Crimes and Military Aggression The threshold for intervention has been crossed through the regime's deployment of battlefield tactics against civilians.

• Deployment of Battlefield Weaponry: Security forces are using heavy military hardware, including armored vehicles with mounted turrets and 40mm grenade-launcher machine guns, against defenseless pedestrians (Please see images attached) (Video showing regime forces killing a protester with a machete in the street. Video of shooting at protesters.)
• Terror Policing: HRANA reports verify that militias are patrolling cities in heavy trucks, firing randomly into streets to induce terror and "uproot" any resistance (video).
• Foreign Proxy Occupation: Signaling a total loss of legitimacy, the regime has imported nearly 5,000 foreign fighters from Iraqi militias (Kataib Hezbollah, Badr Organization) and Afghan Fatemiyoun divisions to slaughter Iranians, as domestic soldiers refuse to fire.
• Execution of Conscientious Soldiers: The regime has begun issuing death sentences to its own security forces who refuse to kill. Javid Khales, a police officer in Isfahan, was arrested and sentenced to death solely for refusing an order to shoot protesters on January 8, 2026 link.

IV. Pillar II: Violations of Medical Neutrality and Human Dignity

The regime has systematically dismantled the infrastructure of humanitarian and medical care.

• Ambulances are intercepted, and the injured are shot dead.
• Targeting the Injured: Security forces have raided hospitals (video footage showing Regims forces attaching a hospital in Ilam) to execute wounded protesters in their beds. Verified evidence shows victims in body bags with active medical equipment still attached, proving they were murdered during emergency treatment.
• Hunt the Healers: Medical professionals are being abducted and threatened for fulfilling their oaths to treat the wounded, specifically at facilities like Milad Hospital in Isfahan. Many Doctors including Dr. Alireza Golchini sentenced to death for treating protesters (Source: Guardian: Iran accused of ‘campaign of revenge’ as doctors arrested for treating protesters).
• State-Sanctioned Extortion: The regime is "monetizing mass murder" by forcing families to pay a "bullet fee" of $1,700–$10,000 USD to only be allowed to search for days within piles of bodies for the bodies of their loved ones. 

V. Pillar III: Use of Prohibited Weapons and Information Blackouts

• Heavy Weaponry: Photographic evidence confirms the use of military armored vehicles equipped with mounted turrets and 40mm grenade-launcher machine guns in city streets. These are weapons of war designed for battlefields, now aimed at defenseless pedestrians (Footage of Dushka heavy machine guns fired at protesters).
• Chemical Warfare: Credible reports indicate the deployment of chemical agents against civilians, violating the 1925 Geneva Protocol (videos & report).
• Technological Blockade: The regime is utilizing Russian-made Krasukha-4 electronic warfare systems to jam Starlink satellite signals, creating a total information blackout to hide ongoing massacres.
• Home Raids and Confiscations: Security forces, often posing as utility officials, are conducting door-to-door raids to confiscate satellite dishes and private CCTV footage to identify protesters (report). Armed officers have raided private homes to seize Starlink equipment, detaining civilians without warrants and charging them with "spying" merely for accessing the internet (report).

VI. Economic Warfare and Scorched Earth Tactics

The regime has expanded its war to the economic livelihood of its citizens, employing arson and asset seizure as tools of collective punishment for the most civil form of protest: strike.

• Confiscation of Assets: The judiciary has begun sealing businesses and seizing assets of owners who joined national strikes.
• Arson Attacks (The Rasht Bazaar Atrocity): Security forces deliberately set fire to the historic Rasht Grand Bazaar, destroying 300 shops to punish striking merchants. Access for fire engines was blocked by security forces.
• The Rasht Massacre: The arson served as the backdrop for a military slaughter. As the bazaar burned, Navy Marine Commandos—deployed domestically for the first time—opened fire on trapped civilians. "Victory Through Terror": Implementing a doctrine of al-nasr bil-ru‘b ("Victory through Terror"), forces adopted a "shoot to kill" policy, aiming for heads and hearts. Estimates suggest 600 to 3,000 deaths occurred in Rasht alone within 48 hours (3 year old among dead).

VII. The Threat to International Peace and Security The Islamic Republic has forfeited its sovereignty not only by massacring its own people but by operating as a destabilizing global terror syndicate. The regime constitutes an existential threat to international peace:

• Sponsorship of Terror: The state actively arms and finances designated terrorist organizations, including Hamas, Hezbollah, and the Houthis, using national resources to fuel conflicts across the region rather than support its starving population.
• Global Aggression: The regime has become a direct combatant in Europe by supplying drones for the war in Ukraine, actively attacking European security interests.
• Nuclear Extortion: As it races toward nuclear weapons and Intercontinental Ballistic Missiles (ICBMs), the regime holds global security hostage.

VIII. Formal Demands for Immediate Action

The time for diplomatic concern has passed; the Iranian people require immediate physical protection. We demand the following:

• Invoke Chapter VII of the UN Charter: Authorize "all necessary measures" to protect the Iranian population from state-led extermination.
• Establish a No-Fly Zone: Deploy a UN-mandated or NATO-led coalition to prevent the use of helicopters and drones against protesters.
• Targeted Neutralization of Military Assets: Conduct strikes on the heavy weaponry and armored vehicles currently being used to "mow down" civilians in city streets.
• Bypass the Information Blackout: Immediately deploy satellite internet solutions to restore the Iranian people's ability to document atrocities and communicate with the world. 
• Diplomatic Isolation and Prosecution: Hold the regime accountable by expelling its diplomats from your capitals and pursuing legal enforcement actions against those responsible for crimes against humanity.
• Immediate Release of All Political Prisoners: Demand the immediate and unconditional release of all individuals detained for protesting or political dissent.
• Cut All Financial Lifelines: Deliver and sustain maximum economic pressure on the regime, block their assets worldwide, target and dismantle their fleet of ghost oil tankers.

• Recognize a Legitimate Transitional Government: Formally recognize Prince Reza Pahlavi as the national leader of Iran's transitional period and engage with him as the legitimate representative of the Iranian people and democratic opposition. Support and facilitate a peaceful, democratic, and people-led transition in Iran.

   

IX. MORAL AND HISTORICAL IMPERATIVE
"Never Again" Means Never Again—Including Now.

After Rwanda (800,000 dead in 100 days) and Srebrenica (8,000 dead), the international community vowed this would never happen again. R2P was born from those failures. 

The current massacre in Iran has already exceeded the death toll of Srebrenica nearly three times over.

The Question Before the World:
If 23,000+ dead, chemical weapons, mass sexual violence, execution of the wounded in hospital beds, and foreign militias slaughtering civilians does not trigger R2P—what does?

At what death toll does the international community finally recognize its responsibility to protect?

In conclusion, Silence is not neutrality; it is complicity. Silence has a side! The international community vowed "Never Again" after Rwanda and Srebrenica, we are witnessing a massacre that exceeds the lethality of those historic tragedies. If the Responsibility to Protect (R2P) is not invoked for this systematic, state-sanctioned slaughter—where machine guns mow down unarmed people for chanting freedom and hospitals are killing fields—then what scale of massacre is the world recognizing the responsibility to protect? 

 

Submitted with Urgency,
On Behalf of the Iranian People