Iran International
Iranian security forces took control of a hospital in the western city of Khorramabad during January's nationwide crackdown, according to medical staff, transferring dozens of critically wounded protesters to the morgue instead of receiving further treatment.
More than 200 bodies passed through Shohadaye Ashayer Hospital during the crackdown, according to an Iran International investigation based on more than two dozen sources, including medical personnel, eyewitnesses and people close to victims' families, as well as hospital records and videos obtained from inside the facility.
One eyewitness said at least 70 critically wounded protesters who could have been saved were transferred to the morgue instead of receiving further treatment.
Others were removed from treatment wards by security personnel before later reappearing in the morgue with fresh gunshot wounds to the upper body or what staff described as "finishing shots."
Iran International has so far verified the identities of 23 people killed in the city.
Hospital under siege
According to a member of the hospital's medical staff, Shohadaye Ashayer became the only hospital authorized to treat people wounded during the crackdown.
Armed security forces surrounded the hospital while police, intelligence officers and other security personnel operated inside the building. Officers stood over doctors and nurses as they treated patients, confiscated staff mobile phones and prevented them from contacting their families.
Hospital staff were effectively confined inside the facility for three days, the medical worker said. Several employees were arrested, while security forces moved through treatment wards identifying wounded protesters for detention.
Videos obtained by Iran International show dozens of bloodied bodies, many naked or partially unclothed, lying uncovered across the morgue floor and an adjoining room.
Some still had oxygen tubes in their mouths and electrocardiogram pads attached, suggesting they had been receiving treatment before being moved.
Several appeared to have been shot directly in the forehead, while others were covered with pellet wounds. Some had suffered catastrophic head injuries, with parts of their skulls missing. Several bodies also showed severe injuries to the genital area.
Some remained handcuffed despite bearing fatal gunshot wounds.
From operating room to morgue
Eyewitnesses described the hospital as overwhelmed, with blood covering corridors and bodies filling both the courtyard and the morgue. Multiple witnesses estimated that between 200 and 250 bodies passed through the hospital during the crackdown.
A student at Khorramabad University of Medical Sciences who witnessed patients arriving at the hospital described a similar pattern.
According to the student, wounded protesters repeatedly arrived alive on January 8 and 9, only for their deaths to be announced around 20 minutes after they had been taken into operating rooms. The student said the pattern was repeated across numerous patients.
The student also recalled a protester admitted on January 22 with extensive pellet wounds and a severe infection. Before treatment could be completed, security forces removed the patient from the hospital despite objections from the attending physician and took them to an unknown location.
Crackdown beyond the hospital
Witnesses said protests spread across much of Khorramabad on January 8 and 9, drawing tens of thousands of people into the streets.
They described security forces firing military-grade weapons, sniper rifles, shotguns and pellet guns at demonstrators, with several witnesses saying protesters were deliberately shot in the head and chest.
One witness said they personally saw at least five people killed after being struck from behind by bursts of gunfire.
Witnesses said security forces prevented many wounded protesters from reaching medical care, leaving some to bleed to death in the streets. Those who managed to reach Shohadaye Ashayer Hospital remained at risk of arrest, abduction or forced removal.
Witnesses also described an internet shutdown, movement restrictions and the widespread deployment of plainclothes officers, the Basij, the Revolutionary Guards and police units throughout the city.
Families under pressure
Eyewitnesses said bodies accumulated in the courtyard of Shohadaye Ashayer Hospital on January 9 while Basij forces prevented relatives from approaching them.
Some families removed the bodies of loved ones immediately, fearing security forces would seize them.
Among the victims whose identities Iran International has verified was Hossein Yaghmaei, who died after being shot and taken to a nearby home.
Retired municipal employee Hojjat Ahmadian was also among those killed. People familiar with his case said authorities pressured his family to record his death as suicide to avoid losing his pension.
Abolfazl Ghadyani, a veteran Islamic Revolution-era official turned fierce critic of Tehran; Mohammad Najafi, a human rights lawyer jailed for exposing a protester's death in custody; and Reza Valizadeh, an Iranian-American journalist and former Radio Farda contributor, issued the joint statement from Tehran's Evin prison.
The three political prisoners said the Islamic Republic was accelerating executions to inflict revenge on defenseless citizens for military setbacks against international adversaries.
"The corrupt regime of the Islamic Republic has once again turned war into a license to kill citizens," the prisoners wrote. "Whatever collapsed of its hollow authority on the battlefield, it is now trying to rebuild on the gallows."
Executions described as 'begging for authority'
Executing protesters following show trials does not represent the administration of justice but rather "begging for authority on a path of blood," the signatories wrote.
They said Iranian authorities were rushing executions to take out frustrations on ordinary citizens that they could not exact on the US and Israel, seeking to crush any protesting voice.
"Today the hereditary regime of Mojtaba Khamenei, who like his father is a bloodthirsty and criminal tyrant who shared and partnered in all his father's crimes and plunder, has fallen from governance to tunnel-keeping," the statement said.
The prisoners added that the regime and its military-security cliques, unable to manage severe economic and social crises, were relying on a triad of "execution, crackdown, and imprisonment" to control the population outside their power centers.
Isfahan hangings spark grief and anger
The statement follows the executions of two young protesters early on Tuesday, Amirhossein Safari and Abolfazl Sepahi, who were hanged in Isfahan amid a heavy security deployment around Alikhani Square.
The two men were among 12 defendants convicted in the Alikhani Square case stemming from clashes during protests in January. Their hangings brought the total number of individuals executed in the case to four, following the executions of Golmohammad Mohammadi and Erfan Esfandiari on July 19. Eight others remain under sentence of death.
The hangings in Isfahan triggered widespread grief, anger, and public defiance across Iranian cities and abroad. Witnesses described crowds gathering near Alikhani Square overnight despite intimidation by security forces, while messages across social media described the executions as a crime that hardened public resolve rather than suppressed dissent.
UN human rights experts led by Special Rapporteur Mai Sato had urged Iranian authorities on Monday to halt the executions, warning that closed-court trials based on televised confessions violated basic international legal standards.
Surge in capital punishment draws global alarm
The joint statement from Evin prison comes amid a broader surge in death sentences and executions across Iran over the past year, particularly following the January protests and escalating regional conflict.
Data compiled by Iran International shows that the Iranian judiciary has executed more than 50 political prisoners since the beginning of the current Iranian year, with dozens more facing execution.
Rights groups and civil society leaders have issued repeated warnings over the escalation. Amnesty International reported that at least 60 people, including three individuals under the age of 18 at the time of their alleged offenses, face imminent execution in Iran.
The three Evin prisoners concluded their statement by warning that no government achieves security or legitimacy through "the accumulation of corpses and a fear production line," adding that if the ruling establishment fails to yield to the public will, "Iran will become more ruined."
People in Isfahan and cities across Iran described staying awake through the night in the hope that the executions would be halted, mourning the two men after dawn and praising those who gathered despite a heavy security presence around the execution site.
Amirhossein Safari and Abolfazl Sepahi were among 12 young men sentenced to death in what became known as the Alikhani Square case, stemming from clashes during nationwide protests in Isfahan on January 8.
Iranian authorities accuse the defendants of killing four security personnel, as well as arson and vandalism. Rights groups and United Nations experts have questioned the fairness of the proceedings, citing allegations of coerced confessions, closed court hearings and the defendants' young ages.
Iran's judiciary news agency Mizan said Safari and Sepahi were executed early Tuesday, bringing the number of people put to death in the case to four after Golmohammad Mohammadi and Erfan Esfandiari were executed on July 19. Eight other defendants remain under sentence of death.
"They chased people through the alleyways of Isfahan last night," one witness said. "People were running through the streets, and the officers followed them. They did not even spare a thought for those mothers."
Witnesses said security forces maintained a heavy presence around Alikhani Square throughout Monday night after reports that an iron scaffold had been erected there. Social media accounts described confrontations between officers and people who had gathered in the hope of preventing the executions.
Iranians in London also gathered outside the Iranian embassy Monday night to protest the executions, extending demonstrations over the hangings beyond Iran's borders.
'We stayed awake until morning'
Many of the messages focused on the hours before dawn, describing a night spent waiting for news from Isfahan.
"We wished until sunrise that morning would never come to Isfahan," one person wrote.
Another summed up the night in historical terms: "Write in history that people in Iran fought with their bare hands until 5 a.m. to save two of their fellow citizens."
Messages from Bandar Abbas, Pardis, Khomein and other cities suggested many people viewed the gatherings in Isfahan as a sign that opposition to the executions had spread well beyond the city.
"The people of Isfahan showed that when the next call comes, millions across the country will return to the streets," one resident of Bandar Abbas said. "We fight for freedom even with empty hands."
Another resident of Bandar Abbas added: "Thank you to the people of Isfahan for gathering and showing that we are still standing together and still remember everyone who has been executed."
One student said news of the executions overshadowed an examination.
"I did not even know what I was writing during my exam," the student said. "All I could think about were the young men who were executed in Isfahan last night."
Grief turns to defiance
Many reactions expressed sympathy for the families of the two men while arguing the executions would intensify rather than suppress dissent.
"My heart breaks for the families of those two young men who watched them being executed," one message said.
Others said the executions had strengthened their determination.
"We are saddened by these executions, but we are not afraid," one resident of Pardis, near Tehran said. "We have become angrier. We will return to the streets soon."
Another reaction echoed that sentiment: "Did you think executing our brothers and sisters would make us retreat or become afraid? It has only made us more determined."
Several people criticized governments engaged in diplomacy with Tehran for failing to do more to stop the executions.
"Countries that have influence over the authorities, why do they do nothing to stop these executions?" one message asked.
Others addressed US President Donald Trump directly, questioning why preventing executions had not featured more prominently in negotiations with Iran.
International pressure
The public reaction followed an appeal by United Nations experts led by Special Rapporteur Mai Sato, who urged Iranian authorities on Monday to halt the executions of the remaining defendants.
"Sentencing 12 people to death in one hearing, in a closed courtroom and without clarity as to each defendant's individual responsibility violates established fair trial standards," the experts said.
The experts said the convictions relied heavily on confessions broadcast on state television, while Revolutionary Court hearings were held behind closed doors and the judgments were never made public.
They also said several defendants had reportedly been subjected to arbitrary detention, enforced disappearance and, in some cases, ill-treatment.
