Iranian forces fired from police station and mosque in Najafabad, witness says
An eyewitness has described what he called an organized and deadly crackdown on protesters in the city of Najafabad in Iran’s Isfahan province, saying security forces opened fire on crowds from both a police station and a mosque.
In an audio message sent to Iran International on Sunday, the witness said large numbers of people took part in protests on January 8 and 9, and that authorities responded with what he described as a “massacre.”
He said plainclothes agents infiltrated the crowd on the evening of January 8 and steered protesters toward the governor’s office and a police station, where forces positioned inside the station opened fire.
Despite the bloodshed, he said protesters returned to the streets the following evening. He described the city on January 9 as resembling a “war zone,” saying security forces were deployed with heavy weapons and fired at demonstrators from Safa Mosque on Shariati Street.
He added that authorities later withheld victims’ bodies, forcing families to break into morgues to search for their relatives, and said Najafabad was effectively placed under conditions resembling martial law after the crackdown.
The sources said Alijanvand was shot by security forces with two live rounds, one striking his lower back and another his abdomen. His family spent five days searching hospitals, police stations and prisons across Isfahan province before identifying his body in the cold storage at Bagh-e Rezvan cemetery on January 13, the sources said.
According to the sources, Alijanvand's body was transferred later that night, on January 13, to Shahin Shahr's morgue.
Authorities initially refused to hand over the body and sought to have Alijanvand declared a “martyr,” a condition the family rejected, which would have required them to accept the state’s official account of the death rather than acknowledge that he was killed by state security forces.
Alijanvand was eventually buried under heavy security at around 4 a.m. on January 15, in a tightly controlled ceremony at Behesht-e Zahra Chaharbisheh cemetery in his hometown of Masjed Soleyman in southwestern Iran, with only five family members present and several plainclothes agents in attendance, the sources said.
Alijanvand was married and worked as a forklift driver at a brick factory, according to the people familiar with the matter.
“Reza worked from morning until night. He was deeply patriotic and hopeful for Iran’s freedom,” the source said, adding that Alijanvand believed Iran’s exiled prince Reza Pahlavi would return to the country.
Last month, Iran International reported that more than 36,500 Iranians were killed by security forces during the January 8-9 crackdown on nationwide protests, making it the deadliest two-day protest massacre in history.
Images and messages received by Iran International indicate that protesters in Karaj were killed by sniper fire during demonstrations, followed by the nighttime burial of victims, including a 16-year-old boy identified as Reza.
According to witness accounts on January 8 and at around 9:00 at night, Reza was shot dead in an alley in the Shahin Villa neighborhood. Witnesses said the shot was fired by a sniper positioned on the rooftop of a fruit shop.
Witnesses said Reza was moved after being shot into a nearby home’s parking area, where he died. After the situation calmed, his body was taken to a local clinic.
The following day, people close to the family were told that Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps forces had buried the teenager’s body overnight and informed the family of the grave’s location.
According to residents, armed forces were deployed at Shahin Villa’s Eighth and Ninth bases and prevented people from approaching by firing live ammunition. Witnesses said at least six people were killed by gunfire on Shahin Villa Street alone, adding that the shooting appeared targeted, particularly against younger protesters.
A witness to protests in Fardis, Alborz province, said the “main killing” occurred on Friday, January 9, when security forces intensified their crackdown and opened fire with live ammunition on protesters after initially allowing the gathering to proceed.
The witness told Iran International that on January 8, the first day of protests, security forces were caught off guard by the size of the crowd and that the number of fatalities that night was limited.
According to the witness, the situation escalated sharply the following day when Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps forces and special police units, after permitting the protest to take place, opened fire from multiple directions using military-grade weapons.
“In some areas of Fardis there was widespread gunfire, and a large number of people were killed on Ahari Street,” the witness said.
The witness also reported seeing direct shootings, including what they described as execution-style “final shots” fired at elderly protesters.
According to the account, in several cases families of those killed by direct fire were later forced to sign commitments identifying the victims as members of the Basij militia. The witness said this was done because families were unable to afford the high costs demanded for the release of the bodies.
