Eyewitnesses describe lethal crackdown throughout nation

[ad_1] Roja Assadi and

Sarah Namjoo, BBC Persian

<img sizes="(min-width: 1280px) 50vw, (min-width: 1008px) 66vw, 96vw" srcset="https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/news/240/cpsprodpb/fb03/live/7d6a9300-efde-11f0-a422-4ba8a094a8fa.jpg.webp 240w,https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/news/320/cpsprodpb/fb03/live/7d6a9300-efde-11f0-a422-4ba8a094a8fa.jpg.webp 320w,https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/news/480/cpsprodpb/fb03/live/7d6a9300-efde-11f0-a422-4ba8a094a8fa.jpg.webp 480w,https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/news/640/cpsprodpb/fb03/live/7d6a9300-efde-11f0-a422-4ba8a094a8fa.jpg.webp 640w,https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/news/800/cpsprodpb/fb03/live/7d6a9300-efde-11f0-a422-4ba8a094a8fa.jpg.webp 800w,https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/news/1024/cpsprodpb/fb03/live/7d6a9300-efde-11f0-a422-4ba8a094a8fa.jpg.webp 1024w,https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/news/1536/cpsprodpb/fb03/live/7d6a9300-efde-11f0-a422-4ba8a094a8fa.jpg.webp 1536w" src="https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/news/480/cpsprodpb/fb03/live/7d6a9300-efde-11f0-a422-4ba8a094a8fa.jpg.webp" loading="eager" alt="Public domain A masked protester stands on a platform above crowds at night in Kaj Square, in north-west Tehran. on 9 January 2026. They are holding a black and white photo above his head of the last shah's son, Reza Pahlavi. Light from buildings, streetlamps and shop fronts are illuminating the area. The protester's mask is black with a white mark on the front, with three holes cut out for their eyes, mouse and nose." class="sc-5340b511-0 hLdNfA"/> Public area A protester holds up an image of crown prince Reza Pahlavi in Kaj Sq., north-western Tehran on Friday

"I noticed it with my very own eyes - they fired instantly into strains of protesters, and other people fell the place they stood."

Omid's voice was shaking as he spoke, afraid of being traced. Breaking the wall of silence between Iran and the remainder of the world takes immense braveness, given the chance of reprisals by the authorities.

Omid, in his early 40s and whose title we have now modified for his security, has been protesting on the streets of a small metropolis in southern Iran over the previous few days towards worsening financial hardship.

He mentioned safety forces had opened fireplace at unarmed protesters in his metropolis with Kalashnikov-style assault rifles.

"We're combating a brutal regime with empty palms," he mentioned.

The BBC has obtained comparable accounts of the crackdown by safety forces following the widespread protests throughout the nation final week.

Since then, web entry has been lower by the authorities, making reporting from Iran tougher than ever. BBC Persian is banned from reporting inside Iran by the federal government.

One of many largest nationwide anti-government protests happened on Thursday, the twelfth night time of demonstrations. Many individuals seem to have joined the protests on Thursday and Friday after calls from Reza Pahlavi, the exiled son of the final shah of Iran who was overthrown within the 1979 Islamic revolution.

The next day, Iran's Supreme Chief Ali Khamenei mentioned: "The Islamic Republic won't again down." It seems that the worst bloodshed occurred after that warning as safety forces and the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps take their orders from him.

Iranian authorities accused the US and Israel of fomenting bother and condemned "terrorist actions", state media reported.

A younger lady from Tehran mentioned final Thursday felt like "the day of judgement".

"Even distant neighbourhoods of Tehran have been filled with protesters - locations you would not consider," she mentioned.

"However on Friday, safety forces solely killed and killed and killed. Seeing it with my very own eyes made me so unwell that I fully misplaced morale. Friday was a bloody day."

She mentioned that, after Friday's killings, individuals have been afraid to exit and that many have been now chanting from alleys and inside their properties.

Tehran was a battlefield, she mentioned, with protesters and safety forces taking positions and canopy on the streets.

However she added: "In conflict, either side have weapons. Right here, individuals solely chant and get killed. It's a one-sided conflict."

Mortuary movies reveals violent authorities crackdown in Iran

Eyewitnesses in Fardis, a metropolis simply to the west of Tehran, mentioned that on Friday, members of the paramilitary Basij power underneath the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) instantly attacked protesters after hours with out a police presence on the streets.

The forces, who have been in uniform and using bikes, fired reside ammunition instantly at protesters, in accordance with the witnesses. Unmarked automobiles have been additionally pushed into alleys, with occupants capturing at residents who weren't concerned within the protests, they mentioned.

"Two or three individuals have been killed in each alley," one witness alleged.

Those that have given accounts to BBC Persian say the fact inside Iran is difficult for the surface world to think about, and the demise toll reported by worldwide media up to now solely represents a fraction of their very own estimates.

Worldwide information shops should not allowed to work freely inside Iran and they're principally counting on Iranian human rights teams who're energetic exterior the nation. On Monday the Norway-based Iran Human Rights (IHRNGO) mentioned a minimum of 648 protesters in Iran had been killed, together with 9 individuals underneath the age of 18.

Some native sources and eyewitnesses report very excessive numbers of individuals killed throughout completely different cities, starting from a number of tons of to 1000's.

The BBC is at present unable to independently confirm these figures and, up to now, Iranian authorities haven't supplied official or clear statistics on the variety of deaths of protesters.

Nonetheless, Iranian media has reported that 100 safety personnel had been killed throughout the protests, saying that protesters - whom they consult with as "rioters" - set fireplace to dozens of mosques and banks in numerous cities.

<img sizes="(min-width: 1280px) 50vw, (min-width: 1008px) 66vw, 96vw" srcset="https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/news/240/cpsprodpb/ba91/live/c275c1f0-efe2-11f0-a422-4ba8a094a8fa.jpg.webp 240w,https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/news/320/cpsprodpb/ba91/live/c275c1f0-efe2-11f0-a422-4ba8a094a8fa.jpg.webp 320w,https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/news/480/cpsprodpb/ba91/live/c275c1f0-efe2-11f0-a422-4ba8a094a8fa.jpg.webp 480w,https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/news/640/cpsprodpb/ba91/live/c275c1f0-efe2-11f0-a422-4ba8a094a8fa.jpg.webp 640w,https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/news/800/cpsprodpb/ba91/live/c275c1f0-efe2-11f0-a422-4ba8a094a8fa.jpg.webp 800w,https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/news/1024/cpsprodpb/ba91/live/c275c1f0-efe2-11f0-a422-4ba8a094a8fa.jpg.webp 1024w,https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/news/1536/cpsprodpb/ba91/live/c275c1f0-efe2-11f0-a422-4ba8a094a8fa.jpg.webp 1536w" src="https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/news/480/cpsprodpb/ba91/live/c275c1f0-efe2-11f0-a422-4ba8a094a8fa.jpg.webp" loading="lazy" alt="Eyewitness image A large group of people gather in front of buildings in Babol. Someone near the camera has their hands in the air. It is after dark and lights from buildings illuminater the area." class="sc-5340b511-0 hLdNfA"/> Eyewitness picture Footage posted on Thursday confirmed massive crowds in Babol, northern Iran

<img sizes="(min-width: 1280px) 50vw, (min-width: 1008px) 66vw, 96vw" srcset="https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/news/240/cpsprodpb/e8cc/live/688931a0-efeb-11f0-a7b5-3564185a54d0.jpg.webp 240w,https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/news/320/cpsprodpb/e8cc/live/688931a0-efeb-11f0-a7b5-3564185a54d0.jpg.webp 320w,https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/news/480/cpsprodpb/e8cc/live/688931a0-efeb-11f0-a7b5-3564185a54d0.jpg.webp 480w,https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/news/640/cpsprodpb/e8cc/live/688931a0-efeb-11f0-a7b5-3564185a54d0.jpg.webp 640w,https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/news/800/cpsprodpb/e8cc/live/688931a0-efeb-11f0-a7b5-3564185a54d0.jpg.webp 800w,https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/news/1024/cpsprodpb/e8cc/live/688931a0-efeb-11f0-a7b5-3564185a54d0.jpg.webp 1024w,https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/news/1536/cpsprodpb/e8cc/live/688931a0-efeb-11f0-a7b5-3564185a54d0.jpg.webp 1536w" src="https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/news/480/cpsprodpb/e8cc/live/688931a0-efeb-11f0-a7b5-3564185a54d0.jpg.webp" loading="lazy" alt="Eyewitness image A man cstands on the top of a statue with the Iranian flag flying. The statue represents a man " class="sc-5340b511-0 hLdNfA"/> Eyewitness picture Pictures posted on Thursday from Khorramabad in western Iran confirmed a person holding Iran's pre-revolutionary flag

Movies verified by BBC Persian's fact-checking crew additionally present police automobiles and a few authorities buildings being set alight in numerous areas throughout the protests.

Testimonies and video despatched to BBC Persian are primarily from bigger cities corresponding to Tehran, close by Karaj, Rasht within the north, Mashhad within the north-east, and Shiraz within the south. These areas have larger entry to the web by way of the Starlink satellite tv for pc community.

Info from small cities - the place many early casualties occurred - is scarce as their entry to Starlink could be very restricted.

However the quantity, consistency, and similarity of the accounts obtained from numerous cities level to the severity of the crackdown and the widespread use of deadly violence.

Nurses and medics who spoke to the BBC mentioned that they had seen quite a few useless our bodies and injured protesters.

They reported that hospitals in lots of cities had been overwhelmed and have been unable to deal with these with extreme accidents, particularly to the pinnacle and eyes. Some witnesses reported our bodies "stacked on high of one another" and never handed over to households.

<img sizes="(min-width: 1280px) 50vw, (min-width: 1008px) 66vw, 96vw" srcset="https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/news/240/cpsprodpb/1bf9/live/c23d4240-efe1-11f0-b5f7-49f0357294ff.jpg.webp 240w,https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/news/320/cpsprodpb/1bf9/live/c23d4240-efe1-11f0-b5f7-49f0357294ff.jpg.webp 320w,https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/news/480/cpsprodpb/1bf9/live/c23d4240-efe1-11f0-b5f7-49f0357294ff.jpg.webp 480w,https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/news/640/cpsprodpb/1bf9/live/c23d4240-efe1-11f0-b5f7-49f0357294ff.jpg.webp 640w,https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/news/800/cpsprodpb/1bf9/live/c23d4240-efe1-11f0-b5f7-49f0357294ff.jpg.webp 800w,https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/news/1024/cpsprodpb/1bf9/live/c23d4240-efe1-11f0-b5f7-49f0357294ff.jpg.webp 1024w,https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/news/1536/cpsprodpb/1bf9/live/c23d4240-efe1-11f0-b5f7-49f0357294ff.jpg.webp 1536w" src="https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/news/480/cpsprodpb/1bf9/live/c23d4240-efe1-11f0-b5f7-49f0357294ff.jpg.webp" loading="lazy" alt="Eyewitness image / Reuters Protesters gathered in front of burning vehicles in Tehran at night in video released on 9 January 2026. Thick black smoke billows from the hulks of several burning cars with a large vehicle in the background. Around a dozen people are in the foreground. Lights from buildings are in the background. " class="sc-5340b511-0 hLdNfA"/> Eyewitness picture / Reuters Footage from Tehran that emerged on Friday confirmed automobiles ablaze

Graphic movies printed on the activist-run Telegram channel Vahid On-line on Sunday confirmed numerous our bodies on the Kahrizak Forensic Medical Centre in Tehran, with many households both mourning or trying to establish the corpses.

In one of many movies apparently from Kahrizak, relations are seen wanting on the images of unidentified our bodies displayed on a display screen.

Many our bodies in black baggage have been seen within the facility and on the road exterior, solely a few of which appear to have been recognized.

One video confirmed the within of a warehouse containing a number of our bodies, whereas one other confirmed a truck being unloaded with individuals eradicating corpses from it.

A mortuary employee in a cemetery in Mashhad mentioned that earlier than dawn on Friday morning between 180 and 200 our bodies with extreme head accidents have been introduced in and buried instantly.

A supply in Rasht advised BBC Persian that 70 our bodies of protesters have been transferred to a hospital mortuary within the metropolis on Thursday. In line with the supply, safety forces demanded "fee for bullets" earlier than releasing our bodies to households.

On the identical time, a medical employees member at a hospital in jap Tehran advised BBC Persian that on Thursday, round 40 our bodies have been introduced there the identical day. The hospital's title has been withheld to guard the identification of the medic.

UN Secretary-Common António Guterres mentioned on Sunday that he was "shocked by reviews of violence and extreme use of power by the Iranian authorities towards protesters leading to deaths and accidents in current days".

"I wish to emphasise that whatever the demise toll, the usage of deadly power by safety forces is regarding," Mai Sato, the UN Particular Rapporteur on the scenario of human rights within the Islamic Republic of Iran, advised BBC Persian.