Khamenei ordered killings with approval of top state bodies, sources say
Information received from the Supreme National Security Council and the presidential office shoes that the nationwide killings during Iran’s latest protests were carried out on the direct order of Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei, with the explicit knowledge and approval of the heads of all three branches of government.
The information further indicates that the Supreme National Security Council issued an order for live fire, and that forces of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps and the Basij were mainly responsible for shooting those killed.
The operation is assessed as fully organized, not the result of “sporadic” and “unplanned” clashes, and unprecedented in Iran’s history in geographic scope, intensity and the number of deaths over a short period.
The assessment was reached after evidence converged from Sunday, following a multi-stage review of information from a source close to the Supreme National Security Council; two sources in the presidential office; accounts from IRGC sources in Mashhad, Kermanshah and Isfahan; as well as eyewitness and family testimony, field reporting, medical-center data and information provided by doctors and nurses across several cities.
