Iranian protesters face their deadliest days yet as security forces unleash mass killings and executions in a sweeping crackdown that some have called “genocide,” new reports say.
According to The Sunday timesa report prepared by doctors holed up in the region and reviewed by the newspaper estimates that security forces have killed at least 16,500 protesters and injured more than 330,000 others.
The report also described the violence as an “utter massacre,” warning that the actual toll could be even higher due to limited access to hospitals and a near-total shutdown of communications.
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A report claims that Iranian security forces have killed at least 16,500 protesters. (Ohad Zwigenberg/AP Photo)
According to the report, most of the victims are under the age of 30, underscoring the heavy toll among Iran’s younger generation as the regime steps up efforts to suppress dissent.
Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei acknowledged on Sunday that “several thousand” have been killed since protests broke out on December 28.
In a televised address, he blamed the protesters, calling them “US foot soldiers” and falsely claiming that demonstrators were armed with imported live ammunition.
In the meantime, Press agency for human rights activists (HRANA) reported that on day 22 of the protests, verified figures show 3,919 people killed, with 8,949 additional deaths under investigation, 2,109 seriously injured and 24,669 detainees.
HRANA noted that the actual toll is likely much higher as a result of the internet outage.
Professor Amir Parasta, an Iranian-German eye surgeon and medical director of MED in Munich, said in a report by The Sunday Times that doctors across Iran are “shocked and crying” despite having experience treating war injuries.
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Eye surgeon Amir Parasta called the crackdown “a whole new level of brutality.” (UGC via AP)
“This is a whole new level of cruelty,” Parasta said. He added that Starlink terminals smuggled into Iran have been the only means of communication since authorities cut internet access on January 8.
Eyewitnesses fleeing Iran also described snipers targeting demonstrators’ heads, mass shootings and systematic blinding using pellet guns.
A former Iranian resident said in the report that doctors reported more than 800 eye removals in one night in the capital alone, possibly leaving more than 8,000 people blind across the country.
“This is genocide under the cover of digital darkness,” Parasta said.
In addition to street killings, executions have also increased dramatically, said Ali Safavi, a senior official at Iran’s National Council of Resistance (NCRI).
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President Trump denounced Ayatollah Ali Khamenei this weekend, calling him a “sick man.” (Majid Saeedi/Getty Images)
“Ali Khamenei continues mass executions in parallel with the killing of young protesters,” Safavi said. According to our data, three executions by hanging are now taking place every hour.
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President Donald Trump sharply condemned Khamenei over the weekend, calling him a “sick man” and pushing for new leadership in Iran.
In an interview with Politico, Trump accused Khamenei of overseeing “the complete destruction of the country” and “using violence at a level never seen before,” adding that Iran’s leadership “must stop killing people.”
