Still mourning the killing of his brother by government forces days earlier, a Tehran resident and fellow demonstrator painted a desperate and gruesome picture of conditions on the ground in Iran this week, with activists facing ongoing threats even as many still hope for foreign intervention, in a rare correspondence with Israeli media.
“The city smells of blood and death. Everyone carries grief in their hearts,” Ali, a pseudonym, told the Times of Israel on Monday.
Speaking as demonstrations appeared to have been halted by a brutal crackdown that saw thousands massacred by regime forces, Ali said protesters were hoping that both the United States and Israel would come to their aid by launching military action to assist in overthrowing the Islamic Republic.
“People are filled with rage,” he said. “They are simply waiting for a US and Israeli attack to put an end to this regime.”
A Tehran native who works in the city, Ali provided a written account in Farsi on condition of anonymity, as communication with foreign media, especially Israeli, poses a security risk.
The Times of Israel was able to reach Ali through Shervin Savadkoohi, an Iranian political exile and monarchist activist living in the United Kingdom, who has been working to get Iranians’ stories out amid regime efforts to quash accounts of what is happening inside the country.
While it was impossible to independently confirm his identity or accounts, Ali provided The Times of Israel with graphic images showing his deceased brother in a body bag and later being laid to rest, as well as hospital and police documents related to the incident.
Providing graphic photos of the incident, he recounted how, on January 9, he and his brothers were leading protesters when regime forces attacked the crowds: “My two brothers and I were on the front lines, leading others so people would stay motivated and not retreat. I, and one of my brothers, were hit by shotgun pellets, and my other brother was shot with live ammunition, later dying from severe bleeding.”
The protests began in late December as merchants went on strike over the plummeting value of the rial, with the country’s economy struggling to weather heavy international sanctions and leaders seen as unresponsive to people’s needs.
Within days, the demonstrations had spread across the country, bringing tens of thousands to the streets, many of whom began calling for an end to the Islamist regime ruling the country since the 1979 revolution that deposed Shah Reza Pahlavi, whose son urged on the protests from abroad.
Ali said the regime’s move to shut down internet access had made it difficult for protesters to organize, but demonstrations continued to take place spontaneously, with “braver individuals” guiding the rest of the crowd.
“All communication channels were blocked on the [first] nights of the protests — we didn’t even have access to phone calls,” he recalled.
A long-time opponent of the Islamic Republic, Ali said he also took part in the 2009, 2017, 2019, and 2022 protests, but described the current unrest as “unprecedented.”
The regime’s response, which was largely shielded from international view by the internet shutdown, also seemed to be unprecedented, though reliable figures for the number of those injured, killed, or detained during the protests remain elusive.
Over the weekend, Iran’s supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei stated that the protests have left “several thousand” dead. A report put together by Iranian doctors and cited by the Sunday Times put the death toll in the suppressed demonstrations at about 16,500.
Ali said he believed that “around 30,000 people have been killed.”
Though the protests appeared to have suppressed by early last week, the crackdown appears to be continuing.
A Wednesday report cited Iranian doctors alleging that Iranian security forces were deliberately firing at protesters’ heads and eyes to cause them debilitating injuries, with over 400 eye wounds said to be documented at a Tehran hospital.
Asked if protesters believe the regime can fall even amid the crackdown, Ali said that the tens of thousands who have taken to the street would need outside help. “Everyone is waiting for a savior, because this regime will not fall even with a million-person uprising — it will only produce more victims.”
