Iranians attend the funerals of security forces personnel killed in recent protests in Tehran on January 14, 2026. AFP
The ceremony attended by thousands of people waving flags of the Islamic republic began with prayers being read out for the dead outside Tehran University, according to the images.
Rights groups say thousands of people are likely to have been killed in a crackdown by security forces on protests. But the authorities blame "rioters" who they say killed dozens of members of the security forces as well as innocent bystanders described as "martyrs".
Iran's Judiciary chief vowed on Wednesday fast-track trials for people arrested over a massive wave of protests, after US President Donald Trump threatened "very strong action" if the Islamic republic goes ahead with hangings.
Gholamhossein Mohseni Ejei said on a visit to a prison holding protest detainees that "if a person burned someone, beheaded someone and set them on fire then we must do our work quickly", in comments broadcast by state television.
Iranian news agencies also quoted him as saying the trials should be held in public and said he had spent five hours in a prison in Tehran to examine the cases.
Trump on Tuesday said in a CBS News interview that the United States would act if Iran began hanging protesters.
"We will take very strong action if they do such a thing," said the American leader, who has repeatedly threatened Iran with military intervention.
"When they start killing thousands of people -- and now you're telling me about hanging. We'll see how that's going to work out for them," Trump said.
Tehran called the American warnings a "pretext for military intervention".
Iran's UN mission posted a statement on X, vowing that Washington's "playbook" would "fail again".
"US fantasies and policy toward Iran are rooted in regime change, with sanctions, threats, engineered unrest, and chaos serving as the modus operandi to manufacture a pretext for military intervention," the post said.
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