Iraq orders heightened readiness after US-Saudi strikes

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.

Blockchain data reviewed by Reuters showed the exchange, Shelbit, processed money for a Farsi-language gambling network spanning more than 2,000 websites. It also interacted with Iran's central bank, the sanctioned Iranian exchange Nobitex and wallets that Israel has linked to the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps.

Reuters traced tens of millions of dollars from the gambling network through Shelbit and found that at least $676 million moved from Shelbit-linked addresses to Binance, the world's largest crypto exchange, since May 2024.

Links to sanctioned entities

Shelbit processed at least $125 million connected to Iran's central bank and received funds from what blockchain investigators described as an Iranian bitcoin-mining operation, according to data reviewed by Reuters.

The exchange also handled money connected to gambling websites promoted by Iranian influencers Sasha Sobhani and Pooyan Mokhtari. Both men denied knowledge of Shelbit or any involvement in sanctions evasion, money laundering or transactions on behalf of Iranian state institutions.

Reuters found that the IRGC took control of major gambling websites accessible inside Iran years ago and used them to move money abroad. The news agency could not establish whether the Guards directly controlled Shelbit or the wider gambling network, or determine where much of the money ultimately went.

Dubai regulator takes action

Dubai's Virtual Assets Regulatory Authority said it had previously taken enforcement action against Shelbit for operating without a license. On July 24, it ordered the exchange to halt all unlicensed activity, citing concerns over money laundering, terrorism financing and cross-border transactions.

Shelbit's registered office was listed above a budget hotel in Dubai, but people working at the address told Reuters they had never heard of the company. The exchange no longer has an operating website and there is no apparent way for members of the public to use it.

Binance said Shelbit had never held an account on its platform and that transactions associated with it were not initially judged to be high risk. It said relevant accounts were investigated, frozen and reported to law enforcement.

Shelbit founder Siavash Kayvanpour, the Iranian government and the IRGC did not respond to Reuters requests for comment.

The State Department's Rewards for Justice program announced Thursday that it was seeking information on Kimia Part Sivan Company (KIPAS), which it described as the drone-production arm of the IRGC's overseas Qods Force.

According to the statement, KIPAS has conducted unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) flight tests for the IRGC-Qods Force, provided technical assistance for drones transferred to Iraq for use in IRGC operations, and procured critical UAV components from companies outside Iran.

Washington also named six senior KIPAS officials—Hasan Arambunezhad, Abolfazl Ramazanzadeh Moshkani, Mehdi Ghaffari Naghneh, Reza Nahar Dani, Abbas Sartaji and Hadi Jamshidi Zavaraki—saying they had been involved in the testing, development and supply of drones, particularly for Iranian-aligned armed groups in Iraq, Yemen and Syria.

The officials were sanctioned by the U.S. Treasury Department in April 2024 for acting on behalf of the IRGC-Qods Force, while KIPAS itself was designated in 2021 under U.S. counterterrorism authorities for providing material support to the organization.

The announcement marks the latest step in Washington's expanding "maximum pressure" campaign against Tehran, which has intensified in recent weeks as the United States and Iran remain locked in a confrontation over the Strait of Hormuz.

The Trump administration has increasingly paired military pressure with financial measures aimed at disrupting the IRGC's access to revenue and procurement networks.

On Thursday, the United States sanctioned international networks accused of supporting Iran's Mahan Air, saying the airline facilitated logistics and procurement for the IRGC.

A day earlier, Treasury imposed sanctions on companies and tankers it accused of helping Iran profit from commercial shipping through the Strait of Hormuz by forcing vessels to purchase IRGC-linked maritime insurance.

The Rewards for Justice statement said proceeds from Iran's sales of military equipment, including drones exported to Russia and supplied to regional armed groups, help finance the IRGC-Qods Force's activities abroad.

Washington accuses the force of supporting groups including Hamas, Hezbollah and Iran-backed militias in Iraq, allegations Tehran rejects.

Under the reward program, the United States is seeking information that would disrupt the IRGC's financial networks rather than information leading directly to arrests.

The reward of up to $15 million is among the largest routinely offered under the program for intelligence related to Iranian security organizations.

Replying to a couple who shared photos of a home-cooked steak after losing weight together, the 20-year-old user wrote: "Please don't laugh at me, but one of my dreams is to eat steak once in my life."

The exchange quickly spread across Persian-language social media, drawing more than 750,000 views and over 11,000 likes.

When the couple later revealed their meal had cost around 1.5 million tomans, the user replied: "Sister, I live for three weeks on 1.5 million... what are you talking about?"

Others responded with a mixture of empathy and anger.

"We're not laughing," one user wrote. "We're cursing the ones responsible for making steak one of our dreams."

Another observed that with meat costing around two million tomans per kilogram, "it's clear most of society has never eaten steak."

The exchange reflected a broader reality: for many Iranians, red meat has shifted from an ordinary part of the diet to an occasional luxury—or, for some, an aspiration.

In June 2025, Masoud Rasouli, secretary of the Meat Production and Packaging Association, said annual meat consumption had fallen had fallen to as little as seven kilograms per person from a previous average of 18 kilograms.

While some people still managed to consume around 20 kilograms a year, he said, others no longer ate red meat at all.

The decline has continued amid persistent inflation, repeated currency depreciation, the removal of preferential exchange rates for many essential imports, and the economic effects of conflict and sanctions.

Although the minimum wage rose by around 60 percent in March 2026, analysts say it has failed to keep pace with the cost of a basic nutritional basket, while many households already spend between 50 and 70 percent of their income on housing.

One reply captured the gradual narrowing of everyday diets:

"The most luxurious thing I've eaten in about seven months was an Italian pizza. Honestly, these days I can't even afford grilled chicken."

The shift is visible across many households. Families that once regularly bought red meat have increasingly turned to chicken, then eggs, and in some cases to cheaper staples as rising prices steadily narrowed their choices.

The viral exchange did not reveal an unknown hardship. It simply gave it a sentence, offering many users another way to express both economic despair and political frustration.

One comment perhaps best captured the connection many Iranians drew between everyday hardship and the country's political order:

"Iran will be free soon, and then I'll treat you to a proper steak, God willing."

The New York Times reported Wednesday that Iran had considered retaliating by striking a Ukrainian port before diplomatic efforts helped defuse the crisis, reinforcing the impression that, despite its rhetoric, Tehran is seeking to avoid opening another front.

Establishment figures have largely portrayed the attack as part of a broader US and Israeli effort to widen the conflict, warning Tehran against responding in a way that would play into that strategy.

Mohsen Sani, a member of parliament's National Security and Foreign Policy Committee, argued that the attack on the Iranian vessel and recent strikes against Iraq's Popular Mobilization Forces should be viewed within the same strategic framework.

"The United States is trying to pursue its objectives through proxy actors such as Ukraine and Saudi Arabia," he told the conservative news website Tabnak.

‘International dimension’

Former Iranian ambassador to Kuwait Mohammad Irani likewise accused Israel of encouraging Kyiv to open a new front against Tehran.

"The coming together of Netanyahu and Zelensky, in my view, represents the formation of a new front of confrontation or preparations for a new regional order," he told ILNA.

Irani nevertheless argued that Tehran should avoid creating conditions that would draw additional countries into the conflict.

"Because of pressure from Trump, Israel's hands are temporarily tied. They therefore want to bring another party into the confrontation so that the conflict expands beyond the region and acquires an international dimension," he said.

"If an immediate response is considered, every possible consequence and every option that could be used against us must also be taken into account so that the opposing side does not achieve greater cohesion."

A Western trap

Nour News, a media outlet closely aligned with Iran's Supreme National Security Council, argued that Ukraine's actions formed part of a coordinated US strategy stretching "from Yemen to the Caspian Sea," designed to increase pressure on Iran while allowing Israel time to recover militarily and politically.

In a separate editorial, the outlet argued Kyiv's subsequent diplomatic outreach—including Foreign Minister Andrii Sybiha's assurances to Abbas Araghchi that Ukraine sought no escalation—reflected concern over Iran's deterrence capabilities rather than a genuine attempt at reconciliation.

The conservative daily Resalat likewise argued Washington was attempting to use Ukraine as another proxy against Iran while warning that escalation in the Caspian Sea could ultimately draw Russia more directly into the conflict.

The moderate conservative newspaper Jomhouri-ye Eslami similarly urged Tehran not to fall into what it described as a Western trap, arguing that reducing tensions with Kyiv would better serve Iran's interests than opening another front.

Little appetite for escalation

Javid Ghorbanoghli, Iran's former ambassador to South Africa, said another Ukrainian attack was unlikely, arguing that Tehran had already signalled it would respond to any repeat incident.

"It is highly unlikely that Tehran seeks to expand the war," he said. "Iran prefers not to allow its already tense relations with European countries to deteriorate even further."

He added that Iran's political establishment was trying to avoid opening new fronts that could generate additional political and economic pressure.

Russia analyst Rouhollah Modabber argued the attack was intended to disrupt the International North-South Transport Corridor and undermine Iran's economic cooperation in the Caspian region.

He also claimed President Volodymyr Zelensky publicly accepted responsibility in an effort to secure additional US military and financial support.