In Iran, witness accounts of atrocities counter regime claims of calm
| London
The Iranian mechanical engineer hadn鈥檛 slept for days, fearful his masked presence at the peak of anti-regime protests last week would prompt his arrest at home at any moment.
Still in shock, his voice shaking and sometimes choking with emotion, he describes over the phone what he witnessed in Tehran of the Iranian government security forces鈥� lethal crackdown on protests that had swept the country.
鈥淎lmost everyone knows someone within their circle who has been killed,鈥� says the engineer, who asked not to be named for fear of retribution. He says he saw a government sniper on a rooftop, using a laser sight to target protesters burning trash dumpsters.
Why We Wrote This
A brutal Iranian crackdown has appeared to quash most protests, and officials are seeking to portray a sense of 鈥渘ational solidarity.鈥� But images and eyewitness accounts of shocking 鈥渁trocities鈥� are accumulating that paint a different picture.
The violence was unprecedented in its savage ferocity as the Islamic Republic sought to quell the most severe challenge to its power in decades. Thousands of people reportedly were killed, most of them young men and women, many shot from behind and at close range.
Spilling out of Iran this week have been eyewitness accounts of the violence, accompanied by videos of security forces firing indiscriminately at protesters, and gruesome scenes of the results.
From the streets to overwhelmed morgues, the images give credence to claims of widespread social shock and grief about what has unfolded behind the cover of a near-complete communications blackout.
Official vision of 鈥渘ational solidarity鈥�
Yet Iran鈥檚 embattled leadership sought to portray a sense of calm normalcy, even triumph, after the violent weekend crackdown appeared to quash most protests, along with the existential risk they posed to the regime.
Answering a call from hard-line officials Monday, tens of thousands of regime supporters took to the streets in rallies. On Wednesday, a mass funeral march was held in Tehran for more than 100 members of the security forces killed in the clashes.
State-run TV channels described the rallies as proof of 鈥渘ational solidarity鈥� and a 鈥渄ecisive鈥� response to two weeks of unrest. The protests, which began over legitimate economic grievances, were 鈥渉ijacked,鈥� the state channels said, by Israeli- and American-backed mercenary 鈥渢errorists鈥� bent on destruction and regime change.
Israeli and U.S. officials voiced support for the Iranian protests, and hinted at clandestine support already underway. A surprise Israeli attack on Iran last June led to a 12-day war of airstrikes and missile exchanges, capped by American strikes on deeply buried Iranian nuclear facilities.
Analysts say the regime, despite its confident messaging, is nevertheless clear-eyed about the real challenges it confronts.
For Iranian leaders, 鈥渋t鈥檚 not really a settled matter. They understand the chain of events, the process they are in right now, and the risks that they face,鈥� says Farzan Sabet, an Iran expert at the Geneva Graduate Institute.
鈥淪o it鈥檚 very important for them to quickly get the situation under control, because that perception of control 鈥� or lack of control 鈥� is something that could shape how the next steps of this process play out,鈥� he says.
鈥淚t鈥檚 trying to say to their supporters: 鈥楲ook at the enemy we face. If these are the things the enemy is doing, then any measure is suitable, especially if we are at war,鈥欌�� says Dr. Sabet. 鈥淎nd they say of the uprising: 鈥楾his is the 13th day of the [Israel-U.S.-Iran] war.鈥欌��
A Trump pivot?
U.S. President Donald Trump repeatedly warned Iran鈥檚 leaders that they would be 鈥渉it very hard鈥� if protesters were killed. On Tuesday he encouraged Iranian protesters and promised that 鈥渉elp is on its way.鈥�
But Mr. Trump appeared to reverse course Wednesday. He said Iran鈥檚 crackdown was over, and that the executions of protesters 鈥� which he had earlier described as a new trigger for action 鈥� would not take place. On Thursday the White House said that 800 executions that were planned to take place in Iran Wednesday had been 鈥渉alted.鈥�
Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi told Fox News that Iran rejected lethal force against the protesters, forswore executions, and blamed 鈥渢errorists鈥� working for Israel and the U.S. for the high death toll, in a bid to 鈥減rovoke鈥� Mr. Trump to 鈥渟tart a new war against Iran.鈥�
Hard-line officials inside Iran, however, take a starkly different rhetorical tack, saying they consider 鈥渆very鈥� person on the streets since the Jan. 8 crackdown to be a 鈥渃riminal.鈥�
Officials have also stated that protesters would be quickly tried on charges of 鈥渨aging war against God,鈥� which carries the death penalty. Chief Justice Gholam-Hossein Mohseni-Ejei said Wednesday there could be no mercy because 鈥渢he enemy has openly declared support鈥� for protests.
鈥淭hey are trying to portray themselves as stable, as having reasserted control, that there is no challenge to them 鈥� both for domestic political reasons, and signaling to the U.S. and Israel,鈥� says Sina Toossi, a senior fellow at the Center for International Policy in Washington.
鈥淏ut obviously that鈥檚 not the case. And the continued, unprecedented internet shutdown 鈥� shows how much they were afraid [and] ultimately betrays fear, insecurity, vulnerability,鈥� he says. 鈥淣ow they are trying to project confidence, but a lot of their actions don鈥檛 reflect confidence 鈥� it reflects that they feel very paranoid, and they鈥檙e very aggressive.鈥�
Traumatic searches, explicit accounts
Indeed, official claims of 鈥渘ormal鈥� would barely register with Iranian families searching for loved ones among the overflow of body bags laid out in parking lots at morgues, south of Tehran and elsewhere. Heard on videos of such searing scenes are the sounds of wailing and shouting.
鈥淔or many, and I鈥檇 say everyone I know, this is something way beyond trauma,鈥� says an Iranian outside the country, with family still inside, who has spent hours a day looking at videos of the crackdown.
鈥淚 don鈥檛 know how to explain it: You feel numb with disbelief. Even those with the most cynical views toward the regime had never imagined such atrocities in that scale of ruthlessness to actually be committed right on the streets,鈥� says the Iranian, who asked not to be further identified.
鈥淚 can鈥檛 get any proper sleep these days. I鈥檓 just ... filled with endless rage and frustration,鈥� he says.
Human rights organizations estimate a death toll of more than 2,500, which is far higher than any previous wave of protest in Iran. But they note that communication restrictions mean the actual toll could be much greater.
Eyewitness accounts have been explicit, and even a smattering of them point to some humiliating cruelty at play 鈥� and an unmatched scale of carnage.聽鈥淚 saw it with my own eyes 鈥� they fired directly into lines of protesters, and people fell where they stood,鈥� the BBC Persian service quoted a man from a small southern town as saying.
Another example was a young woman: 鈥淓ven remote neighborhoods of Tehran were packed with protesters 鈥� places you wouldn鈥檛 believe,鈥� she told BBC Persian. 鈥淏ut on Friday, security forces only killed and killed and killed. Seeing it with my own eyes 鈥� I completely lost morale.鈥�
Accounts undercut government line
Body bags at Tehran鈥檚 sprawling Behesht-e Zahra cemetery reportedly were piled by neighborhood, with grieving families told to search them according to their address.
And one mortuary worker in the northeastern city of Mashhad described 180 to 200 bodies arriving before sunrise last Friday, then immediately buried, according to the BBC.
With each passing day, more eyewitness accounts emerge 鈥� increasing the challenge for Iran鈥檚 leaders of portraying post-protest Iran as business-as-usual.
The protests and lethal reaction now add up to the most significant challenge to the Islamic Republic since its first decade, when the revolution consolidated power with bloody street battles, fought the Iran-Iraq war of the 1980s, and survived the 1989 succession of the supreme leader, says Dr. Sabet.
鈥淭his is not the same system that it was back then. In many ways, it is more sophisticated [but] a lot less resilient,鈥� he says. 鈥淭he sources of its power are arguably much more under strain.鈥�
鈥淭here are constant shocks to the system,鈥� says Dr. Sabet. 鈥淭he system manages these shocks, but it becomes less resilient each time. And there are more shocks ahead.鈥�
An Iranian researcher contributed to this report.
