Exclusive: An Eyewitness Account of Mass Killings, Foreign Militias, and Fear Inside Iranian Regime’s Crackdown

“It was like a war zone. They were shooting indiscriminately at everything that moved,” said an Iranian woman in Tehran, describing the security forces’ response to recent demonstrations in a rare, detailed interview with The New York Sun.The woman, identified only as “M” to protect her safety, took part in several demonstrations in the first two weeks of the uprising against the regime in Iran. But after the mass demonstrations on January 8 and 9, where more than 30.000 demonstrators are believed to have been killed, “M” stopped taking to the streets.Many other Iranians describe living in a constant state of fear, as the regime carries out arbitrary mass arrests of demonstrators and the health workers who treated the injured.“M” recalled how she left her home on January 9 to join a demonstration in her neighborhood in Tehran where protestors had surrounded a court building where the regime had sentenced dissidents to jail. “I drove my car there and as soon as I reached the demonstration I was asked to take a young guy, who had been shot in the shoulder, to the hospital, which I of course did. It was chaos at the hospital. It was much busier than usual. After I dropped him off I drove back to the demonstration outside the court house,” she said. Outside the courthouse demonstrators had surrounded the building as regime forces fired tear gas at protestors from the rooftop. “M” said she saw the body of what appeared to be a dead IRGC officer lying in a ditch. The Sun has viewed “M’s” videos from the demonstrations that night, which shows young and mostly masked protestors chanting against the regime outside the courthouse, with several bonfires on the streets and one demonstrator holding a riot shield belonging to the regime’s security forces. One video also shows the alleged IRGC officer — Morteza Azad — who held the role of captain in the IRGC, according to the photo of his ID. Later that evening “M” said she walked with the protestors towards the center of Tehran to join the mass demonstrations. “We saw a constant stream of IRGC officers on their motorbikes making their way to the city center. As we got closer I started seeing security forces shooting indiscriminately at demonstrators. They shot at everything that moved. It was like a war zone,” she said.Arab militias and morgue bargaining “M” joined the demonstrations in Tehran late last year after a sharp collapse in the local currency fuelled an already fragile economy and sparked an immediate uprising across several towns in Iran. The regime forces were quickly deployed across the streets in the following days. One day, as “M” walked to work, she suddenly saw armed forces that looked unfamiliar. “I could tell from the way they looked that they weren’t from Iran. And sure enough, as I got closer I heard them speaking Arabic. I believe they were from Iraq,” she said. The deployment of Iraqi forces has also been reported by both Fox News while CNN reported that more than 5.000 Iraqi militiamen entered Iran through two different border crossings in early January. As security forces continue to crack down on anyone who dares protest, families of those who have been killed are in a battle with the regime to have their bodies released from morgues. “My colleague’s brother was killed in the demonstrations and the family was given two choices; Either pay thousands of dollars to have his body released or sign a document stating that he was a member of the Basij forces (regime militia). They ended up signing the document as they ” she said.According to “M”, the regime demands between $2.000 and $3.500 for the release of bodies.The ransom and forced document signing have also been reported by other media. “Anther colleague of mine lost her 25-year-old nephew after he was shot in the back as he walked home from a demonstration,” she said. “M” also said that colleagues and friends of hers who lost children and female family members have not been allowed to have their bodies released from morgues. “The regime won’t release their bodies because they are preparing to use them to stage civilian casualties in case the U.S. and Israel launch military attacks,” she claimed. As the Middle East is on high alert for a possible war between the U.S. and Iran, many Iranian demonstrators keep calling for Washington to intervene. “We need help to get our freedom back. People in Iran want a foreign intervention. They want the U.S. to help,” said an Iranian man from Tehran, who communicated with New York Sun on condition of anonymity. For “M” and everyone she speaks to, the question remains the same: “When will the U.S. and Israel attack? We can’t topple the regime alone.”

Exclusive: An Eyewitness Account of Mass Killings, Foreign Militias, and Fear Inside Iranian Regime’s Crackdown

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