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Testimony from Iran on the repression of protests, as reported to The Times of Israel

A protester in Tehran, mourning the killing of his brother, describes to the Israeli newspaper the conditions in the country after the crackdown by government forces

Testimony from Iran on the repression of protests – An eyewitness account from Iran on the crackdown on protests comes from a Tehran resident who spoke directly to The Times of Israel (Nava Freiberg). The man, who asked to remain anonymous and goes by the name Ali, described a desperate and violent picture of conditions in the country following the recent wave of demonstrations.

Still mourning the killing of his brother by government forces a few days earlier, Ali spoke to The Times of Israel on Monday, explaining that “the city smells of blood and death” and that “everyone carries pain in their hearts”. The account was gathered in a rare correspondence with the Israeli media, made possible despite the serious security risks associated with contacts with the foreign press.

According to the Israeli newspaper’s account of the crackdown on protests in Iran, the demonstrations were suppressed by a harsh response from the regime’s forces, with thousands of people killed. Ali said that many protesters were hoping for external intervention by the United States and Israel to help overthrow the Islamic Republic.

‘People are full of anger,’ he said. ‘They are just waiting for an attack by the United States and Israel to end this regime.’

The Times of Israel reports that it contacted Ali through Shervin Savadkoohi, an Iranian political exile and monarchist activist living in the United Kingdom. Although it has not been possible to independently verify the man’s identity or his accounts, Ali provided images and documents relating to his brother’s death.

In his account, he reconstructed what happened on 9 January, explaining that he and his brothers were at the front line during a demonstration in Tehran when regime forces opened fire. ‘One of my brothers and I were hit by rifle pellets, the other was hit by live ammunition and died from severe bleeding,’ he reported.

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