A student protester was shot in the back of the head and buried at the roadside in Tehran following demonstrations against the Iranian regime – as the death toll continues to rise.
Activists now say that the number killed in the crackdown on nationwide protests has spiked to at least 538 people.
More than 10,600 people have been detained, the US-based Human Rights Activists News Agency claims.
Of those killed, 490 are protesters and 48 are members of the security forces, it said, warning the toll is likely to go up.
Rubina Aminian, 23, had joined in the street protests after a day of classes in her textiles programme at Shariati College on Thursday.
The young Kurdish woman had mingled with the crowds of demonstrators and activists, but just days later, her body would be found buried beside a deserted road.
According to Iran Human Rights, Aminian was shot at close range in the back of the head before being buried.
Her devastated parents travelled from their home in Kermanshah to Tehran over the weekend where they identified their daughter’s body, and where they discovered that several other young people had been slain in similar ways, the group added.
Rubina Aminian, 23, had joined in the street protests after a day of classes in her textiles programme at Shariati College on Thursday
A police station is set on fire during protests in Tehran, Iran, January 10, 2026
Flames rise from burning debris in the middle of a street in Gorgan on January 10, 2026, as protesters set fire to makeshift barricades near a religious center during ongoing anti-regime demonstrations
They were also told that they would not be allowed to bring their daughter’s body home, but they later persuaded authorities to release her body.
But upon arrival to their home, they found their house surrounded by intelligence agents, Iran Human Rights reported.
Tragically, when they approached mosques to request a traditional burial ceremony for their daughter, they were informed that such services had been forbidden.
Aminian was ultimately buried beside a road between Kermanshah and Kamyaran.
A source close to the family described her as ‘a young woman full of joy for life and passionate about fashion and clothing design, whose dreams were buried by the violent repression of the Islamic Republic.’
With the internet down in Iran and phone lines cut off, gauging the demonstrations from abroad has grown more difficult, Human Rights Activists News Agency said.
The activist group, which relies on activists in Iran cross-checking information, has offered accurate tolls in previous rounds of unrest in the Islamic Republic.
The Iranian government has not offered any overall casualty figures for the demonstrations.
Iranians gather while blocking a street during a protest in Tehran, Iran on January 9, 2026
Over the weekend, IranWire reported accounts from doctors and activists suggesting a hardening of policy by the regime in the middle of last week, marked by protesters being shot in the head and neck on Thursday and Friday nights.
The report also cited an increase in accounts of security forces firing down at protesters from rooftops.
Following a protest in the Qala Hassan Khan area of Tehran on Thursday, a single surgeon treated six patients shot in the head – none survived.
Footage circulated on social media on Sunday, showing a heartbroken family member holding the crushed remains of a metal bullet that had been removed from the skull of a loved one.
Medics have described hospitals as overwhelmed with dead and wounded patients, and an eye hospital forced into ‘crisis mode’ because of the number of people who had lost one or both eyes.
Meanwhile, the Iranian regime’s language has stiffened, changing its description of protesters from ‘rioters’ to ‘terrorists’.
And the regime does not appear to be sparing young people’s lives in their brutal crackdown.
After one shooting at a demonstration in Najafabad, parents rushed to a nearby hospital to find the bodies of their children, according to a medical source.
‘They took their children and buried them in the same clothes,’ the source said. ‘They said they were martyrs and did not need a bath or shroud.’
It comes as Donald Trump has been briefed on options for potential strikes on Iran after he said he was ‘ready to help’ protesters facing a crackdown from the Ayatollah’s regime.
The nationwide protests started in late December at Tehran’s Grand Bazaar in response to worsening economic conditions
Iranians gather while blocking a street during a protest in Tehran, Iran on January 9, 2026
Iranian Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei attends a gathering of the people of Qom in Tehran. On January 8, 2026, Iranian protesters intensified their challenge to the clerical leadership, marking the largest demonstrations in nearly two weeks of rallies
The president has not yet made a decision on whether to fire on the Islamic Republic, but sources close to him told the New York Times he is considering authorising a strike in response to the regime’s brutal suppression of the demonstrations.
Iranians have been taking to the streets in the thousands in Tehran to revolt against the theocracy for triggering the economic crisis, fueled by rampant hyperinflation.
Officials told the Times Trump has been presented with several options, including strikes on nonmilitary sites in the Iranian capital.
It comes as hundreds of protesters are feared to have been killed by security forces in Iran this weekend as the regime’s religious dictatorship brutally fights for its survival.
Fanatical leaders declared that anyone joining the protests will be considered an ‘enemy of God’, punishable by death. One woman told CNN she had seen bodies ‘piled up’ at a hospital.
Meanwhile, Iran has warned Trump and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu that the US military and Israel would be ‘legitimate targets’ if the US strikes Tehran.
Parliament Speaker Mohammad Baqer Qalibaf gave the warning in a speech to parliament in the Iranian capital, while lawmakers shouted ‘death to America’.
‘In the event of an attack on Iran, both the occupied territory and all American military centers, bases and ships in the region will be our legitimate targets,’ Qalibaf said.
‘We do not consider ourselves limited to reacting after the action and will act based on any objective signs of a threat.’
President Trump last week warned Iran would ‘get hit very hard’ if it repeated the mass killings of previous uprisings.
In a post on his Truth Social network on Saturday, he said: ‘Iran is looking at FREEDOM, perhaps like never before. The USA stands ready to help!!!’ It was reported last night that the White House has held ‘preliminary discussions’ on plans for a potential strike against Iran.
The State Department separately warned: ‘Do not play games with President Trump. When he says he’ll do something, he means it.’
Trump previously struck three nuclear facilities in Iran during Operation Midnight Hammer on June 22, 2025.
Donald Trump has been briefed on options for potential strikes on Iran, after he said he was ‘ready to help’ protesters facing a crackdown from the Ayatollah’s regime
Iranian Parliament Speaker Mohammad Baqer Qalibaf gave the warning in a speech to parliament in the Iranian capital, while lawmakers shouted ‘death to America’
The US Air Force used B-2 Spirit stealth bombers while the Navy launched Tomahawk missiles from submarines, together striking the Fordow Uranium Enrichment Plant, the Natanz Nuclear Facility, and the Isfahan Nuclear Technology Center.
With the internet down in Iran and phone lines cut off, gauging the demonstrations from abroad has grown more difficult.
But the death toll in the protests has grown, while 2,600 others have been detained, according to the US-based Human Rights Activists News Agency.
Those abroad fear the information blackout will embolden hard-liners within Iran’s security services to launch a bloody crackdown, despite warnings from Trump he’s willing to strike Iran to protect peaceful demonstrators.
It remains unclear just how serious Iran is about launching a strike, particularly after seeing its air defenses destroyed during the 12-day war in June with Israel.
Any decision to go to war would rest with Iran’s 86-year-old Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.
The US military has said in the Mideast it is ‘postured with forces that span the full range of combat capability to defend our forces, our partners and allies and US. interests.’
Iran targeted US forces at Al Udeid Air Base in Qatar back in June, while the US. Navy’s Mideast-based 5th Fleet is stationed in the island kingdom of Bahrain.
Israel, meanwhile, is ‘watching closely’ the situation, between the US and Iran, said an Israeli official, who spoke on condition of anonymity due to not being authorised to speak to journalists.
Netanyahu spoke with US Secretary of State Marco Rubio overnight on topics including Iran, the official added.
