Iran cleric warns US bases 'within missile range' if diplomacy fails
Mohammadnabi Mousavifard, the Supreme Leader's representative in Khuzestan and Friday prayer Imam in Ahvaz, warned that any future "mistake" by Iran's enemies would draw a decisive response.
"The remaining US bases in the region and Israel are within range of the Islamic Republic's missiles," Mousavifard said.
He also said Iran's negotiating team in Switzerland had been tasked with pursuing conditions set by Mojtaba Khamenei.
"The mission of the negotiating team in Switzerland is to pursue Mojtaba Khamenei's conditions," he said.
Mousavifard added that if the other parties did not honor their commitments, "the Islamic Republic will also return to the previous conditions."
The investigation draws in part on a list of people recorded at Gharazi Hospital during the crackdown. Documents reviewed by Iran International have so far confirmed the identities of 24 people who died after being taken there.
Iran International has previously reported on several deaths connected to the hospital, including those of Iraj Kiani, Mohammadreza Saberi, Ahmadreza Mehrab Beik, Mehdi Masoumi and Mona Hosseini.
Those reports described a pattern of direct gunfire at protesters, denial of medical treatment, bodies removed without family consent, delayed release of remains, pressure on relatives and demands for large payments before bodies were handed over.
Hospital under security control
Witnesses, relatives and medical sources described the hospital as operating under tight security control during the three-day period.
They said security personnel controlled the hospital, many bodies were removed without informing families and records relating to some of the dead and wounded disappeared from the hospital's admission system.
More than 100 injured people were brought to the hospital on the evening of January 9, according to information received by Iran International. A hospital source said the names of a number of injured and killed were removed from the electronic registration system shortly after being entered.
One medical staff member estimated that 140 bodies linked to the hospital were identified or seen during the unrest, though other sources suggested the real figure may have been considerably higher.
Morgue accounts
Medical sources and eyewitnesses said the hospital morgue reached capacity on the nights of January 8 and 9, with bodies stacked on top of one another. Several sources also said that some wounded people were transferred there alongside those already dead.
One member of the medical staff told Iran International that groaning could be heard from inside one of the body bags after it reached the morgue, suggesting that at least one person was still alive. Security personnel, the source said, prevented staff from approaching the individual.
Witnesses also described bodies being moved to external storage facilities after the morgue became full.
Families told Iran International that some bodies were withheld for several days before being released under heavy security restrictions, with payments of between five billion and 10 billion rials, roughly $3,500 to $7,000 at the time, reportedly demanded before remains were returned.
The reports contrast with an announcement by Iran's Legal Medicine Organization on January 12 that examinations of those injured during the protests and the release of victims' bodies would be free of charge.
Protester's final hours
Among the cases documented is that of Farid Seifi, who was shot during the protests on January 8.
Witnesses said a security officer fired from a rooftop, striking him in the heart. His family took him to Gharazi Hospital while he was still breathing, but he later died there.
People close to the family said security personnel subsequently removed his body. After several days and the payment of a substantial sum, his body were returned and buried under heavy security on January 15.
He had been married for only one year and eight months, and his wife was pregnant with triplets when he was killed.
Information from the streets of Isfahan also indicates that Gharazi Hospital became the destination for many people wounded by direct fire from security forces during the protests.
A witness said thousands of people had gathered when security forces advanced from the nearby streets on January 9. Officers first used tear gas and long-range fire before moving closer and opening direct fire on the crowd, according to the witness.
Several people fell after a burst of gunfire, forcing protesters to flee through side streets, the witness said.
One protester was struck by three bullets. "People tried to call emergency services, but the lines were busy," the witness said. "Eventually, several people stopped a car and asked the driver to take the protester's body to the hospital."
Wounded teenager says hospital opened judicial case
In a separate account, an 18-year-old identified as Mehdi said he was shot with live ammunition from about 10 meters away during protests in Isfahan on January 8, with the bullet striking above his knee.
He said protesters first took him to a nearby house, where they stemmed the bleeding. "As the number of wounded increased and space ran out, some protesters were treated in residential parking garages," he said.
Because of heavy blood loss, Mehdi later sought treatment at Gharazi Hospital, where he said staff opened a judicial case for him. Security agents visited his home several times after his hospital visit, he added.
Accounts received by Iran International show that fear of arrest, torture or being killed at hospitals led many wounded protesters to avoid medical centers altogether or leave shortly after arriving. Some instead received treatment in homes and parking garages with the help of local residents and medical staff.
The pattern has also meant that the true number of people wounded and killed was never fully recorded in official systems or, in some cases, disappeared after initial registration.
Iran International's campaign into the small town of Mamasani killings in Fars province has previously documented similar accounts of wounded protesters receiving treatment at home because they feared arrest at hospitals.
The campaign to establish the facts surrounding the January protest crackdown continues by collecting, examining and verifying accounts from witnesses, victims' families, medical staff and local sources.
Testimony reviewed by Iran International has made Gharazi Hospital one of the central locations in the investigation. Multiple sources described it not only as a hospital where wounded protesters were denied treatment, but also as a site where bodies were used to intimidate families, extract payments, conceal evidence and erase traces of the killings.
