Iran’s security forces planned in advance to deploy snipers and use shoot-to-kill tactics during the nationwide protest crackdown on Jan. 8 and 9, a former Iranian interior ministry official told Iran International.
The former official, who spoke on condition of anonymity and previously also served in the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, said preparations dating back to 2022 included “marking and identifying elevated locations for sniper deployment” and “ideological theoretical training and psychological preparation to kill, including firing final shots at protesters.”
He said the planning also involved “training and educating criminal elements to play the role of leaders in gatherings, both to identify people and to steer street movements.”
Verified video of the protests showed security forces firing live ammunition from elevated positions, using pellet guns, raiding hospitals and shooting wounded protesters.
The former official said the Jan. 8-9 crackdown was not a short-term response but the result of long-term structural and operational preparation by security bodies.
