Witnesses report mass eye injuries during protests in Iran’s Bushehr

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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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.

Accounts of the violence which unfolded on Iran's streets at its height on Jan. 8-10 were related to Iran International on Monday and shed light on killing which authorities have acknowledged claimed the lives of thousands but according to medics and government officials total at least 12,000, according to Iran International.

Karaj: wounded protestors shot in Taleghani Square

In Karaj, west of Tehran in north-central Iran, an eyewitness said security forces fired directly at protesters during demonstrations on Jan. 9 in Taleghani Square, killing and wounding a number of people.

The witness said forces deliberately shot dead some wounded protesters and blocked others from reaching hospitals.

Gorgan and Shahin Shahr: snipers on rooftops

In Gorgan, in northeastern Iran, an eyewitness said security forces fired at protesters from the rooftop of Panj Azar Hospital on Jan. 9, adding that a 15-year-old girl was directly targeted and killed.

Separate eyewitness accounts from Shahin Shahr, in Isfahan province in central Iran, said armed forces fired at protesters from the rooftops of public buildings, including a haberdashery bazaar, the education department building, the municipality and the Negarestan building on the nights of Jan. 8 and Jan. 9.

Qazvin: hospitals filled with bodies and wounded

In Qazvin, in northwest Iran, an eyewitness said more than 1,000 people were killed in the city over three nights of protests from Jan. 8 to Jan. 10.

The witness said hospitals were filled with bodies and wounded people within two hours of direct gunfire by security forces on the evening of Jan. 8, adding that the blood on the floors of some medical centers lapped up to exit doors.

Behbahan: eye injuries, machine gun deployment

At least 40 people, and possibly up to 50, suffered eye injuries, a medical worker in Behbahan, in Khuzestan province in southwest Iran, told Iran Iran International. Use of buckshot which has blinded protestors has been reported in previous waves of deadly violence.

The source said vehicles equipped with machine guns were stationed in the city and fired at people on Jan. 8 and Jan. 9.

Hashtgerd: young child shot on sight

In Hashtgerd, west of Tehran in Alborz province, police fired on a family accompanied by a young child on Friday, Jan. 9, a local source told Iran International.

According to the source, a six- or seven-year-old child was seriously injured and suffered heavy bleeding after being hit in the leg by pellets.

The child’s mother said the family was not chanting slogans while leaving their home, but police opened fire as soon as they saw them, according to the source.

Shahroud: protestor shot through the heart

A 31-year-old protester identified as Matin Montazerzohur was killed after being shot by security forces on the evening of Jan. 8 during protests in the city of Shahroud, in northeastern Iran, local sources told Iran International.

Eyewitnesses said he had travelled from Gorgan to Shahroud with friends to take part in the protests and remained in contact with his family until around 8 p.m.

Hours later, his friends informed his family that he had been shot.

The source said the bullet struck him in the chest and ripped through his heart.

His body was returned to his family after four days, on Jan. 12, and transferred to Gorgan. He was buried the following day without a ceremony. Sources said he was self-employed, worked in bodybuilding and had planned to migrate to Turkey.

Isfahan: summonses and pressure on striking shopkeepers

In Isfahan, in central Iran, local sources told Iran International said the Revolutionary Guards intelligence unit summoned shopkeepers who joined strikes and blocked the bank accounts of some of them.