Iranians Await U.S. Action as Regime Violence Escalates

Amid a communications blackout in Iran, an incident on January 18, 2026, suggested either a highly organized opposition operation or the involvement of a state actor against the Islamic Republic. Hackers hijacked all regime-controlled television channels and replaced them with a video of exiled Crown Prince Reza Pahlavi addressing the public, alongside footage of protests. The operation underscored how, beyond mass killings in the streets, the Islamic Republic now projects weakness and vulnerability.

Images of the regime’s uninhibited slaughter of protesters also began circulating, even as the internet remained largely shut down. Elon Musk’s Starlink network has proven critical, though only a limited number of terminals exists inside Iran.

Activists abroad received detailed accounts of where, when, and how security forces killed protesters. These reports show that the estimated 12,000 to 20,000 deaths did not result solely from long-range fire by troops using military weapons and heavy machine guns. Many killings occurred at close range. Armed personnel infiltrated crowds and shot people with sidearms. In some cases, attackers used large knives. There are even reports that Basij paramilitaries beheaded victims.

“It was horrifying. The girl turned back and said, ‘Don’t shoot, I want to go home, please don’t shoot.’ The officer turned to her and said, ‘Come here.’ As soon as the girl turned around, he shot her in the face. She collapsed to the ground,” a diaspora activist wrote in an account published on X.

Detainees held in Iranian prisons have also reported severe abuse, including forced nudity, exposure to freezing temperatures, and injections with unidentified substances, according to a source close to the family of one prisoner who spoke to Iran International.

The source said a young protester sent a message from inside prison describing how guards abused him and several others after arrest. They stripped detainees naked in the courtyard and left them outdoors for long periods in winter conditions. They then sprayed them with cold water from a hose.

The detainee added that the next day, prison staff injected him and several others with substances whose contents the prison staff did not disclose. Victims and activists have also leveled multiple accusations that security forces used unknown chemical agents against demonstrators to disrupt bodily functions.

From this point forward, the Islamic Republic can remain in power only through force. It has lost legitimacy in the eyes of most Iranians. The issue is no longer economic mismanagement or corruption. The regime is now seen as a monster—like Zahhak, the tyrant of Persian mythology. Many Iranians now view regime change as the only acceptable outcome. The reformist narrative, promoted for more than two decades, has collapsed.

Amid the information blackout, many reports are difficult to verify. Still, cross-reporting of specific atrocities strongly suggests they are real.

An Iranian journalist abroad summarized what he learned after two days of conversations with activists inside Iran. He said many were too traumatized to write even basic reports. He described their mental state as a mix of shock, grief, rage, despair, and a desire for revenge. Even those who had not lost close relatives were emotionally shattered. Many struggled to speak. Some said words could not capture what they had seen.

The journalist said activists agreed that the regime’s goal was not simply to regain control, but to generate terror to deter any future protests. He cited deliberate shootings of people who could have been arrested, execution-style killings of the wounded, bodies left in the streets for hours, and public displays of corpses. He concluded that the full scale of the crime is still not understood.

Most Iranians now await the U.S. military intervention signaled by President Donald Trump, as reports indicate Washington is boosting airpower and other assets in the region. Many say they have tried three major uprisings since 2019, and each time the regime has grown more brutal. Without outside help, they argue, it is impossible to topple a theocracy that not only permits its forces to kill civilians but treats it as their duty.

One activist abroad posted this on X: “Nothing in Iran has returned to normal. Let me put it this way: people might even surprise everyone before any [foreign] attack happens and come back to the streets stronger than before. Iran has become a powder keg. Anger and the desire for revenge have seeped into the flesh and bones of the people, and the frontline activists are recovering and getting ready to return to the streets. This is the message they asked me to pass on to you from inside Iran.”