Section 02 · Blood Money · A Middle East Forum Report

Blood Money: Crimes against Humanity in Iran

The Islamic Republic killed thousands of its own citizens to crush the uprising that began on December 28, 2025. This report documents the record and the revenue that sustains the apparatus responsible.

Updated October 4, 2026. Figures are minimum counts from named sources.

Ranks of uniformed Army, IRGC and police personnel stand in formation on a parade ground — Army, IRGC and law enforcement units at a joint parade in Astara, Gilan Province, September 25, 2019. Photo: Mehdi Hossein Nejadi (Mehr News Agency), CC BY 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons

Read the Report Download PDF Fact Sheet (PDF)The Blood Money List

The Record, at Minimum

7,007deaths recorded by HRANA in the first 50 days of the crackdownSource: HRANA, The Crimson Winter, February 23, 2026
53,777arrests recorded by HRANA in the same periodSource: HRANA, The Crimson Winter, February 23, 2026
31protesters executed, at minimum, according to over 40 states at the UN Human Rights CouncilSource: HRC63 joint statement on the death penalty in Iran, September 30, 2026
3,038deaths in the Iranian government's own official figureSource: UN Fact-Finding Mission, A/HRC/63/61

Crackdown figures cover the protest period from December 28, 2025. Deaths in the war that began on February 28, 2026 are counted separately and never added to these totals. See all figures and sources.

In This Section

The Report

The full dossier, with every claim footnoted to a primary source or the reporting outlet's own account.

Read the report

The Blood Money List

37 officials and entities named in the report, with designations by jurisdiction and links to their Ledger profiles.

Search the list

Since July

What changed between the July edition and October 4, 2026: the UN findings, new designations, and the resumed war.

Read the timeline

Take Action

What readers, officials and institutions can do with this record, from contacting a representative to screening exposure.

Take action

Cite This Report

Chicago style

Middle East Forum. Blood Money: Crimes against Humanity in Iran. Philadelphia: Middle East Forum, October 4, 2026. https://iran.meforum.org/blood-money/report/.

https://iran.meforum.org/blood-money/report/

APA style

Middle East Forum. (2026, October 4). Blood Money: Crimes against Humanity in Iran. https://iran.meforum.org/blood-money/report/

BibTeX

@misc{mef_bloodmoney_2026,
  author = {{Middle East Forum}},
  title = {Blood Money: Crimes against Humanity in Iran},
  year = {2026},
  month = oct,
  url = {https://iran.meforum.org/blood-money/report/}
}