Mourning banners fill streets in Iran’s Marvdasht, witnesses say

Witnesses in the southern Iranian city of Bushehr have told Iran International that security forces fired at protesters from elevated positions over two nights, leaving more than 20 people with severe eye injuries.

According to the messages received by the outlet, forces fired from locations including rooftops, mosques and some school buildings on the night of Jan. 9 and 8.

Witnesses said medical centers were overwhelmed by the number of wounded, with staff struggling to cope with the influx of patients.

The family of a 26-year-old woman killed during protests in the northern Iranian city of Lahijan were forced to make repeated visits to authorities and pay an unspecified amount of money before her body was released, witnesses told Iran International.

The woman, identified as Sanam Pourbabaei, a violin teacher, was shot in the head on Jan. 8, according to the accounts.

Witnesses said she had been on the street with friends on the first night of the Pahlavi protest call when security forces opened fire. They said shots were fired as people tried to flee and that she was hit.

According to the accounts, her body was not initially handed over to her family, who were required to return several times to seek its release.

The family eventually received her body late at night, after what witnesses described as a payment of money, the amount of which was not known, and were required to bury her under heavy security.

Witnesses in the northern Iranian city of Lahijan, in Gilan province near the Caspian Sea, have told Iran International that security forces have intensified street patrols and vehicle checks, detaining people over protest-related material found on their phones and impounding some vehicles.

According to the accounts, inspections involved thorough searches. Cars were seized if officers found items they considered suspicious, such as wooden sticks or farming tools.

People were also detained if images or videos linked to the protests were found on their mobile phones, the witnesses said.

They added that large numbers of Basij militia members were deployed at major squares and intersections, including Hashmat, Golestan, Abrisham, Bagh-e Melli and Enghelab squares.

Some of the forces remained stationed overnight in unmarked vehicles with tinted windows, according to the reports.

Witnesses also said a number of doctors and nurses who had treated people wounded by pellet shots or live ammunition had been summoned by security agencies.

Videos sent to Iran International showed protesters in Lahijan chanting “This is the final battle, Pahlavi will return” on Sunday night, Jan 4.

Witnesses in the northeastern Iranian city of Shahrud have told Iran International that at least 200 people were killed over two days of protests, alleging they died at the hands of security forces.

The witnesses reported the deaths occurred on Thursday and Friday, Jan. 8 and 9.

One witness said Ibn Yamin Street was bloodstained on the night of Jan. 19, with visible signs of heavy clashes across the area.

Videos sent to Iran International showed people in Shahrud, in Semnan province, chanting “This is the final battle, Pahlavi will return” as they gathered in the streets on Friday night, Jan 9.

Vignettes of horror on Iran's streets were trickling past a state-imposed internet blackout, as eyewitnesses described to Iran International the widespread killing and blinding of protestors with live fire and the denial of medical care to survivors.

Street protests which burst forth on Dec. 28 citing economic grievances quickly morphed into calls for the downfall of the nearly 50-year-old theocracy.

Authorities deployed deadly force to largely quell the unrest in the bloodiest crackdown on demonstrations since the 1979 Islamic Revolution.

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