AP – They are shown handcuffed, their faces blurred. The confession videos, broadcast on Iranian state media, feature dramatic background music interspersed with clips appearing to show protesters attacking security forces. Some showcase gruesome homemade weapons that authorities claim were used in the attacks. Others highlight suspects in grainy security footage, appearing to set fires or destroy property.
Iran alleges these confessions, which frequently enough include references to Israel or America, are proof of foreign plots behind Iran’s nationwide protests. Activists say they are coerced confessions, long a staple of Iran’s hard-line state television, the only broadcaster in the country.And these videos are coming at an unprecedented clip.
Iranian state media has aired at least 97 confessions from protesters, many expressing remorse for their actions, sence the protests began on December 28, according to a rights group that is tracking the videos.
The US-based Human Rights Activists News Agency says that based on testimony from prior detainees, the confessions often come after psychological or physical torture – and can have serious consequences, including the death penalty.
“These rights violations compound on top of each other and lead to horrible outcomes. This is a pattern that’s been implemented by the regime time and time again,” said Skylar Thompson, the group’s deputy director.
Iran’s mission to the United Nations did not return a request for comment from The Associated Press. Iranian officials have described the protests as “riots” orchestrated by the United States and israel. Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi has said the violence must be foreign-influenced because Iranians would never set mosques on fire.
An unprecedented number of confessions over two weeks
The nearly 100 confessions broadcast over just two weeks is unprecedented for Iran, Thompson said.
By comparison, from 2010 to 2020, there were around 350 forced confessions broadcast on state media, according to the activist groups Justice for Iran and the International Federation for human Rights, the last major study compiled by activists. The rights group Together Against the Death Penalty said there were 40 to 60 confessions aired in 2025.
additionally, Iran Human Rights and Together Against the Death Penalty reported at least 37 televised confessions of people facing the death penalty in the weeks following the 2022 protests over the death of Mahsa Amini after her arrest by the country’s morality police for allegedly not wearing her hijab to the liking of authorities. More than 500 people were killed and over 22,000 detained during the month-lo
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