Iran International Television broadcast shocking reports today alleging that the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, acting on the direct orders of Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, has killed at least 12,000 Iranian protesters in the streets between 8 and 12 January. According to the report, the victims include athletes, artists, and ordinary citizens who took part in peaceful demonstrations.

The US network CBS, while independently confirming that a large-scale massacre has taken place across Iran, put the death toll even higher, estimating that nearly 20,000 people may have been killed.

Among those reported dead are several well-known figures from Iranian sport. Ahmad Khosravani, a member of the Shemiran three-on-three basketball team and a former national champion with the club, was shot dead by IRGC forces while protesting in the streets.

Mojtaba Torshiz, a former player for Tractor Sazi Tabriz football club, and Mehdi Lavasani, a coach at Mahan Novin FC who had previously represented Iran at the youth national level, were reportedly shot dead alongside Torshiz’s wife. Masoud Zatparvar, a national bodybuilding champion, was also killed by direct gunfire from IRGC forces while participating in the protests. Following the news of his son’s death, his father, Majid Zatparvar, a widely respected Iranian weightlifting coach, reportedly suffered a heart attack.

According to updated data from NetBlocks, Iran’s nationwide internet shutdown had reached 132 hours by the morning of Wednesday, 14 January. The Islamic Republic has effectively prevented the flow of information and images by cutting internet access and disrupting international communications. The killings have taken place under what activists describe as “digital darkness”, making independent verification extremely difficult. More evidence of the scale of the violence is expected to emerge once connectivity is restored.

Iran internet blackout now past its 132nd hour

Iran’s National Olympic Committee is widely regarded by critics as being under the effective control of the IRGC, an organisation designated as a terrorist entity by several countries, including the United States. The committee is currently headed by Mahmoud Khosravi Vafa, a former bodyguard to Ayatollah Khamenei and a senior member of the Basij, a paramilitary force that plays a central role in domestic repression and has been directly involved in street-level violence against protesters.

Sport in Iran is deeply intertwined with the state and its security apparatus. Heads of national federations are either members of the IRGC or have been vetted and approved by institutions linked to it. Coaches, referees, and international officials are expected to operate strictly within ideological boundaries set by the authorities.

As a result, Iranian sport functions largely as a patronage system. Athletes, coaches, and officials who do not conform to the regime’s political and ideological criteria are systematically marginalised or excluded altogether. This has fuelled a significant wave of emigration among Iran’s sporting elite. The scale of this exodus was highlighted at the Paris 2024 Olympic Games, where approximately half of the Refugee Olympic Team was made up of Iranian athletes.

Against this backdrop, serious questions are being raised at the international level. Madam President Kirsty Coventry, in the face of these reports of mass killings, systematic repression, and the politicisation of sport under a security state, what is your position on the massacre of the Iranian people?

Mass killing of the Iranian people – Jan 2026