Iranian Official Pledges 'Severest Punishments' Coming As New Details Of Crackdown Emerge

New details of Iran's brutal crackdown on protests have continued to trickle out on January 18, as an Iranian judiciary official told reporters that "severest Islamic punishments" would be coming for those deemed "hostile."

Asghar Jahangir, a spokesman for the Iranian judiciary, told a news conference on January 18 that judges would have a free hand when meting out punishments to protesters.

His comments come after a week in which Washington appeared to back off from military action against Tehran following assurances that protesters would not face the death penalty.

Later on January 18, Iranian President Masud Pezeshkian doubled down on Iran's uncompromising messaging in a social media post.

Railing against Western sanctions, he wrote: "Any aggression against the Supreme Leader of our country is tantamount to all-out war against the Iranian nation."

In his latest statement a day earlier, US President Donald Trump said it was “time to look for new leadership in Iran.”

New Details Of Crackdown

Meanwhile, people leaving Iran have continued telling RFE/RL's Radio Farda details of life inside the country.

Relatives of 42-year-old Mohsen Rashidi, a protester, said he bled to death after being shot in the leg by security forces. They added that they had been forced to pay thousands of dollars for the release of his body.

In another interview, a pensioner who left Iran on January 17 told RFE/RL that “the feeling of martial law is complete, at night...the armed forces randomly stop cars. They check the entire car and also mobile phones."

An Iranian ophthalmologist who recently left the country said hospitals were struggling to treat all those injured in the protests and doctors are under immense pressure given the large amount of eye injuries.

"There are reports that security forces have taken away wounded patients from hospitals," the doctor said.

His account follows previous testimony of eye hospitals being overwhelmed with patients amid Iran's largest protests in years. Also during the Women, Life, Freedom protests in 2022-23, RFE/RL also reported numerous cases of security forces deliberately targeting people's eyes as they suppressed protests.

An Iranian citizen who recently traveled to Tajikistan told a correspondent for RFE/RL's Tajik Service that security forces are still out on the streets with "combat weapons" following the widespread protests.

Meanwhile, new videos from Iran appear to show government and plainclothes forces attacking citizens who have taken refuge in residential buildings in Tehran. In the footage, which RFE/RL has not verified, security forces used various firearms, batons, machetes, sticks, and lasers.

Trump's Warning

The latest evidence of the crackdown emerged following an interview in which President Trump slammed Tehran's handling of nationwide mass protests.

Trump told Politico in remarks published on January 17 that Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei was guilty of "the complete destruction of the country and the use of violence at levels never seen before."

Days earlier, Trump had appeared to postpone a military strike in Iran, telling reporters that Iranian authorities had agreed to halt the executions of protesters.

Action Began With Economic Protest

The latest challenge to the theocratic government erupted on December 28, 2025, with demonstrators taking the streets over Iran's struggling economy, before snowballing into wider protests.

The Norway-based Iran Human Rights group has verified at least 3,428 protester deaths by security forces, while the US-based HRANA put the verified death toll at 3,308 with more than 22,000 arrests. Different activist groups have put the death toll far higher, but an internet blackout has made it difficult to verify the information.

Khamenei himself has acknowledged that thousands have been killed.

Rights groups warn that the actual toll is likely higher than their own tallies due to an internet blackout imposed since January 8 that has severely hampered verification efforts.​

NetBlocks monitoring noted on January 18 that "traffic data indicate a significant return to some online services including Google, suggesting that heavily filtered access has been enabled."

SEE ALSO:
Live Blog: Iranian Internet Connectivity Back To Almost Zero

Backing From Abroad

The protesters have received widespread support on the streets and at events in a number of US and European cities and elsewhere.

Iranian filmmaker Jafar Panahi made an urgent appeal at the European Film Awards in Berlin on January 17 for the world to "react" to the government crackdown.

"If the world does not react to this blatant violence today, not only Iran, but the entire world, is at risk," he said during the opening ceremony.

"Violence when left unanswered becomes normalized. And when it becomes normalized, it's spread. It becomes contagious."

Panahi, who has previously faced imprisonment in Iran, has vowed to return to the country to continue his calls for freedom in the country.