Eyewitnesses and videos depict deadly Iranian crackdown amid communications blackout

Iranian authorities have imposed a near-total communications blackout as mass protests spread, and videos and eyewitness accounts emerging from the country suggest security forces have opened fire on demonstrators in what witnesses and rights groups say may be one of the deadliest crackdowns in more than a decade.

Eyewitnesses told The New York Times that forces began firing, apparently with automatic weapons and at times seemingly indiscriminately. Hospital workers reported that injuries escalated from pellet wounds to gunshot wounds and skull fractures, and one doctor described a "mass-casualty situation." Videos circulating on social media and footage aired on state television showed rows of body bags and families mourning over bloodied corpses.

Casualty figures remain unclear. Human rights groups said they have counted hundreds dead but are hampered by the communications blackout. A senior Iranian health ministry official, speaking on the condition of anonymity, told The Times that about 3,000 people had been killed and blamed "terrorists," and another unnamed government official said he had seen an internal report referring to at least 3,000 dead.

Rights groups reported different tallies: HRANA had put the toll at 572 protesters and 69 security personnel as of Monday morning, while the Center for Human Rights in Iran estimated "at least 1,000 deaths nationwide and potentially higher," the group's executive director Hadi Ghaemi said.

Key Topics

World, Iran, Tehran, Iranian Health Ministry, Hrana, Hadi Ghaemi