Authenticated videos show Iranian security forces firing on protesters

The New York Times has authenticated videos and collected witness accounts showing security forces across Iran opening fire on protesters in early January, including from the roof of a police station in Tehran and into marches in Karaj and other cities. The unrest began with scattered protests in late December and a strike in Tehran’s bazaar and swelled into mass demonstrations by early January amid economic grievances, the Times reported.

The outlet verified footage of gunfire in at least 19 cities and in six Tehran neighborhoods. Two Iranian officials briefed on Ayatollah Ali Khamenei’s Jan. 9 directive told the Times that the Supreme National Security Council was ordered to crush the protests “by any means necessary” and that security forces were deployed with orders to shoot to kill, the officials said.

The reporting also notes riots and arson at some sites and that President Trump encouraged the demonstrators and threatened military intervention. Doctors, a nurse and other witnesses told the Times that hospitals were overwhelmed by gunshot and pellet wounds, with shortages of blood and trauma surgeons; one doctor at Shohada Tajrish Hospital said staff saw about 70 protesters with gunshot wounds per hour at the peak.

Tehran’s Kahrizak morgue overflowed, and the Times obtained photographs of more than 300 bodies brought there.

Key Topics

World, Iranian Security Forces, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, Basij Militia, Tehran, Karaj