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An eyewitness who recently fled Iran and whose identity is being withheld for his safety recounts indiscriminate gunfire that turned city streets into a battlefield. He says he saw thousands of bodies stored at a cemetery as families searched for missing loved ones during a nationwide digital blackout.
He is risking his life to speak out and send a message to the world that the killings are still ongoing and Iranians urgently need help. He describes witnessing indiscriminate gunfire directed at unarmed civilians, narrowly escaping being shot himself.
At least 52 prisoners were executed in Iran based on prior non-political convictions during a period of nationwide protests and an ongoing internet shutdown, US-based rights group HRANA reported on Friday.
The report said the executions were carried out between January 5 and January 14 in at least 42 prisons across multiple provinces.
Those executed had previously been sentenced to death on charges including murder and drug-related offences, which HRANA said were non-political and non-security related.
The executions were reported during a time of severe restrictions on access to information, with a total internet blackout limiting public scrutiny and independent monitoring of judicial proceedings and the implementation of death sentences.
“At least 37 prisoners were executed between January 5 and January 12. Additional executions were reported in the days that followed, including a wave of executions between January 13 and January 14 in several prisons across the country,” the report said.
The group said prison authorities and relevant institutions had not officially announced the executions at the time of reporting.
Human rights organizations raised concerns about the continued use of the death penalty in Iran, particularly during periods of heightened security and restricted information flows.
“The continuation of executions amid internet shutdowns has intensified concerns over a lack of judicial transparency, access to fair trials and the increased risk of violations of the right to life,” HRANA said.
US President Donald Trump said on Friday authorities in Iran stopped what he called planned executions of more than 800 protestors.
A European diplomat, citing intelligence shared with Iran International, said their information indicates that at least 1.5 million people took to the streets in Tehran on Thursday, 8 January.
He said the number was lower on Friday, January 9, as security forces were heavily present in the streets and, in many cases, began shooting as people started to assemble, killing people en masse.
However, the European diplomat who spoke to the channel believes as many as half a million people were present in Tehran on Friday despite the mass killing.
The number of people in other cities is unclear due to the lack of foreign diplomatic presence outside Tehran—all embassies are in the capital.
However, their intelligence estimate is that at least 5 million people participated in nationwide protests on Thursday and Friday.
At least 12,000 people were killed in the deadliest crackdown in Iran’s contemporary history, carried out largely over two consecutive nights on January 8 and 9, Iran International’s editorial board concluded, based on a review of sources and medical data.
Several Iranian Kurdish political parties called on the international community to respond to the Islamic Republic’s crackdown on nationwide protests, urging governments and human rights organizations to take action.
In a joint open letter addressed to countries around the world, international institutions and human rights groups, the parties said the global community should “hear the voice of the people of Iran who have risen up” and act to stop what they described as ongoing violence by the authorities.
“We, the political parties of Kurdistan of Iran, ask the international community to hear the voice of the people of Iran,” the letter says. “Countries and human rights organizations must accept their responsibility and, with all their capacity and in every possible way, stop this regime."
"Decades of opposition to Iran’s ruling system had shown that the masses of the people and oppressed nations deserve freedom and a humane life and international support for protesters would be part of the world’s historical responsibility," the letter said.
The letter was signed by multiple Kurdish political groups, including the Kurdistan Freedom Party (PAK), the Khabat Organization of Kurdistan of Iran, the Komala Party of Kurdistan of Iran and the Kurdistan Democratic Party of Iran, among others.
Tehran’s Friday prayer leader Ahmad Khatami called for the execution of detained protesters and the arrest of anyone who supported the protests, delivering the remarks during his Friday sermon.
Khatami, a hardline cleric appointed by Iran's Supreme Leader, accused protesters of acting on behalf of foreign powers, calling them “servants" of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and "soldiers of Trump."
“They should await a harsh retaliation from the government. Americans and Zionists should not expect peace,” Khatami said. “The demonstrators were servants of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and soldiers of Trump.”
“I say this clearly: the police and armed forces helped, but this time it was you, the people, who brought this matter to an end once again,” Khatami added. “You were present in the field and you must remain present.”
“These fools imagined they could break the country apart. As long as one Iranian is alive, no one will allow even an inch of this land to be lost,” Khatami said. “These savages did things that even the Mongols could not do, but they failed.”
US President Donald Trump said on Friday authorities in Iran stopped what he called a planned execution of more than 800 protestors.
Asked if Arab and Israeli officials convinced him to not strike Iran, President Trump told reporters, "Nobody convinced me. I convinced myself. You had, yesterday scheduled over 800 hangings. They didn't hang anyone. They canceled the hangings. That had a big impact."
