London / Tehran / Brussels, January 10, 2026 – The governments of the United Kingdom, France and Germany on Friday issued a joint statement expressing deep concern over reports of violence by Iranian security forces during the ongoing nationwide protests, strongly condemning the killing of demonstrators and calling on Tehran to exercise restraint and uphold fundamental human rights.
In the coordinated declaration released by the foreign ministries of the three countries, the European powers stated: “We are deeply concerned about reports of violence by Iranian security forces, and strongly condemn the killing of protestors. The Iranian authorities have the responsibility to protect their own population and must allow for the freedom of expression and peaceful assembly without fear of reprisal. We urge the Iranian authorities to exercise restraint, to refrain from violence, and to uphold the fundamental rights of Iran’s citizens.”
The statement also implicitly criticized the nationwide internet blackout that has persisted for more than 36 hours, emphasizing the importance of access to information and communication during times of public unrest.
The protests, which began on December 28, 2025, initially erupted in Tehran’s historic Grand Bazaar, where merchants shut down operations in protest against the rapid collapse of the Iranian rial currency. The rial has fallen to record lows—trading at approximately 1.4–1.7 million rials per U.S. dollar in early January—driving inflation well above 40–48% and causing sharp increases in the price of food, fuel, medicine, and other essentials. Economic hardship, compounded by long-standing international sanctions, corruption allegations, and post-war recovery challenges following the 12-day Iran–Israel conflict in June 2025, quickly fueled broader public anger.
Within days, demonstrations spread to more than 100 cities and towns across all 31 provinces, including major urban centers such as Isfahan, Shiraz, Mashhad, Tabriz, Ahvaz, Kermanshah, and Bushehr, as well as smaller locales like Abdanan and Ilam. Protesters have blocked major roads, set fires to regime symbols, banks, government buildings, and police stations, and chanted slogans calling for the downfall of the Islamic Republic, with some explicitly expressing support for exiled Crown Prince Reza Pahlavi.
Human rights organizations have documented a rising toll amid the security crackdown. The U.S.-based Human Rights Activists News Agency (HRANA) reported on Wednesday, January 8, that at least 38 people had been killed (including protesters and some security personnel), with dozens injured and 2,217 arrests. Earlier tallies from Iran Human Rights (a Norway-based group) cited 45 protester deaths, including eight minors. Security forces have been accused of using live ammunition, tear gas, batons, and conducting hospital raids to detain the wounded.
In a significant development, media reports citing Iran’s Fars News Agency (affiliated with the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps) and shared by Al Jazeera on X (formerly Twitter) on Friday confirmed that eight members of the IRGC were killed during Thursday’s protests in the western city of Kermanshah. This rare public acknowledgment of security force fatalities highlights the intensity of clashes in some regions, though the regime has not issued a comprehensive official casualty update.
Iranian authorities have not released any official death tolls and have accused protesters of being “saboteurs,” “rioters,” and agents of foreign powers—particularly the United States and Israel. Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei has condemned the demonstrations as attempts to destabilize the country and “please” foreign adversaries. Security officials have warned of “no tolerance” for unrest, threatening severe punishment, including potential death penalty charges for those deemed to incite violence.
The nationwide internet blackout, confirmed by the independent monitoring group NetBlocks, began on January 8 around 8:30 p.m. local time and has severely restricted communication, video sharing, and the flow of information from protest sites. NetBlocks described the shutdown as part of “a series of escalating digital censorship measures targeting protests,” a tactic repeatedly used by Iranian authorities in previous waves of unrest, including the 2019 fuel protests and the 2022 “Women, Life, Freedom” movement.
The joint statement by the UK, France, and Germany aligns with broader international concern. The European Union Council issued a separate condemnation on the same day, calling for the immediate release of all arbitrarily detained individuals and the restoration of internet access. The United Nations human rights chief expressed being “deeply disturbed” by reports of deaths, injuries, and the internet shutdown.
As the protests continue despite heavy repression and the blackout, the European trio’s statement underscores growing international pressure on Tehran to de-escalate, protect civilian lives, and address the root causes of public anger—economic collapse, corruption, political repression, and lack of freedoms.
The coming days will be critical in determining whether the regime can contain the unrest or whether the movement will expand further, potentially becoming the most serious challenge to the Islamic Republic since 2022.
