Shocking Images Of Wounded Iran Protesters Expose Regime Brutality

Askar Jalalian told Fars News Agency on Sunday that “the decisions of the international community against Iran are affected by misinformation in cyberspace which are baseless and unfounded.”

People in Iran and activists in general have extensively used social media to inform the public of government violence and atrocities and to provide visual evidence.

On November 24, the Human Rights Council decided to establish an independent international fact-finding mission on Iran's deadly repression of protests following the death in custody of Mahsa Amini, which has killed over 500 civilians.

The UN mission, in particular, asked for information concerning violent crackdown on peaceful protests by security forces, including alleged arbitrary arrests and detentions, sexual and gender-based violence, excessive use of force, torture and other inhumane treatment and enforced disappearances, as well as the deaths of hundreds of peaceful protesters and thousands of arrests.

Jalalian also spoke about a controversial agreement with Belgium last year for exchanging prisoners, which aims at freeing Asadollah Asadi a former Iranian diplomat serving prison time in Belgium on a terrorism conviction.

“Our emphasis is that such cases should not be politicized, and therefore, we have signed agreements with several countries.”

He further raised hope that Asadi would soon be returned to the country based on the agreement.

Asadi is serving a 20-year sentence in Belgium for “attempted murder and involvement in terrorism” for his role plotting to bomb a gathering of the exiled opposition group Mujahedin-e Khalq Organization (MEK) near Paris in 2018.

“We are doing our best to return Hamid Nouri to the country based on an agreement on the transfer of convicts,” added Jalalian.

Hamid Nouri, 61, received a life sentence last July in Sweden for his leading role in the massacre of large numbers of jailed opposition members.

Exiled Prince Reza Pahlavi, Canada-based activist Hamed Esmaeilion, whose daughter and wife were killed in the shooting down of Flight PS752 by Iran’s Revolutionary Guard in 2020, as well as US-based, journalist and women’s rights activist Masih Alinejad, actress and activist Nazanin Boniadi and Secretary General of Komala Iranian Kurdish party Abdullah Mohtadi held a panel in Toronto, Canada, on Saturday to discuss Iran's democracy movement. 

They also delivered speeches during the street events held on the sidelines of the meeting, titled “Unity; A Bridge To Freedom.”

The group, which calls itself the Alliance for Democracy and Freedom in Iran, announced its existence in a February event at Georgetown University's Institute for Women, Peace and Security (GIWPS) -- titled ‘The Future of Iran’s Democracy Movement' and issued a Charter of Solidarity and Alliance for Freedom (Mahsa Charter) earlier in March. 

Defending the contents of the Mahsa Charter, Mohtadi talked about “the spirit of pluralism” as a necessity to overthrow the Islamic Republic. He pointed out that the charter is based on minimum common grounds to defend the rights of minorities and ethnic groups, which paves the way for a transition from the Islamic Republic. He noted that the united opposition is trying to have a coalition as inclusive as possible. 

100%

Prince Pahlavi reiterated his ideas for a democratic Iran, stressing the need for joint efforts to hold a free election in the country. "The first rule of the democratic system is to respect the ballot box,” he said. 

"I firmly believe in the power of the people. Let us not underestimate the power of public opinion, because it creates the necessary motivation to feel responsible and accountable," the exiled prince said.

He said the Iranians inside the country as well as the expatriates should prove to the world that the overthrow of the regime would not leave a power vacuum in the country. “Iran will not become Syria, because we have so many capable and efficient experts inside and outside the country."

He also talked about supporting the labor strikes as the most important factor to put pressure on the regime from inside Iran, adding that experts are examining ways to create a fund to support strikes and create channels to transfer money to the striking workers.

During his speech to a crowd of Iranians who had gathered outside the venue, Pahlavi greeted Nowruz – the Persian new year that started on March 21 – expressing hope that the next Nowruz celebrations would be held in Iran, free of the regime. "We hope this will be the last Nowruz in exile and we Iranians can celebrate freedom in our own country."

Alinejad, who is known for her frank and practical views about the regime, also defended the Mahsa Charter, acknowledging that a lot of people criticized its content for some phrases that seemed not to reaffirm the territorial integrity of Iran. Emphasizing that "the most separatist person" in Iran is Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei, she said, "We have gathered together based on the minimums and we are at the beginning of a union to show a more pluralistic face of Iran."

"None of the members of the Alliance for Democracy and Freedom in Iran claim a 100-percent agreement, but we understand the power of solidarity," she said, accusing the Islamic Republic of sowing discord among the opposition to ensure its survival. "Islamic Republic has survived by separating us and turning us into wandering islands,” she added, noting that the regime has labeled Kurds and Baluchis of separatism, but Kordestan and Sistan-Baluchestan provinces have become symbols of unity representing the voice of the Iranian nation. 

Esmaeilion talked about mechanisms to contact representatives of other groups and ethnicities in the united opposition front, highlighting that “this revolution will bear fruit with unity and hope.” "There is no room for despair,” he noted. 

Boniadi addressed the artists and celebrities who have stood against the regime, saying that “you are our role model; we are with you, and we fight for you."

Javaid Rehman told Iran International on Saturday that "I'm confident Iranians will get justice", but the establishment of a precise accountability mechanism in the form of international fact-finding mission is a concrete step forward.

He said there are serious instances of violations of the rights of the people since September 16, 2022, when protests erupted, while over 500 people were killed by state authorities, including 71 children.

“Accountability must now take its course and people who have committed this very serious violations of human rights must be held accountable.”

He further noted that to bring a stop to further future serious violations of human rights in Iran the international community and global media must exert pressure on Iranian authorities to respect international law and the United Nations Human Rights Council.

Rehman also urged the Islamic Republic to allow fact-finding missions so that they can assess, investigate, and hold the perpetrators accountable.

Elsewhere in his remarks, the UN Special Rapporteur expressed support for the right of the Iranian people to protest.

“They have challenged the state authorities and they have also reached out to me to say that they are suffering, and their rights are being violated. So, I would encourage these young, brave Iranian people, and I am there for the Iranian people. I would support them,” he underlined.

According to the report, 182 Baluch people were executed in 23 prisons across Iran, out of which about 81% were drug-related cases.

At least 167 others have lost their lives due to the direct gunfire by military agents in Sistan-Baluchistan province.

On the other hand, at least 76 citizens were victims of "violence by generally unknown armed persons" last year. Activists believe these people are mostly armed by the IRGC to conduct missions for the security organizations.

The report further added that 82 people lost their lives when smuggling fuel across the border to Pakistan. Gasoline and especially diesel are extremely cheap in Iran because of heavy government fuel subsidies. One gallon of diesel is just 4 US cents.

More than 120 protesters were killed on Bloody Friday on September 30 and during protests in the following weeks in Zahedan and Khash, the report says. On Bloody Friday in Zahedan, the provincial capital, security forces killed more than 80 people, and injured hundreds. Zahedan is one of the few Sunni-majority cities in predominantly Shiite Iran.

Since then, people in Zahedan held anti-regime protest rallies for 25 weeks in a row amid heavy presence by security forces.

Following Friday prayers every week and sermons by Sunni Baluch religious leader Mowlavi Abdolhamid, people hold demonstrations to vent anger at regime brutalities.

General Hassan Karami told Entekhab News on March 25, that the special forces are preparing to simultaneously confront unrest at 400 locations.

The protests that started in September 2022 raged in more than 100 Iranian cities for over five months before they receded in February, although protests in some regions and chanting from rooftops still continue and pockets of street protests have also been observed.

In Zahedan, the capital of Sistan-Baluchistan Province protests have taken place every Friday since September. Hundreds have been reportedly killed or wounded during the protests over the past six months.

Gen. Karami called the ‘Woman, life, freedom’ protests “Super Sedition” and claimed that his forces have overcome the unrest “successfully.” Using military terms for treatment of civil disobedience, Karami said: “We have grounded the enemy and its human resources and media backing it and badly defeated them.”

Since the start of the protests Iranian officials including Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei and military commanders attributed the protests to “conspiracies” hatched by foreign powers and media.

100%

The special force of the Iranian police was only one of the units the government used to suppress the protests. Karami characterized it as “A specialized force with unique capabilities.” He said: “We designed our operations based on the location and nature of threats.” Karami also boasted that most of the equipment used by the special forces are made in Iran.

During the protests, apart from improvised vans that were turned into anti-riot vehicles, all the weapons, including shotguns used to blind the protesters were imported from other countries.

Although Karami’s remarks reveal the Iranian regime fears a new round of nationwide protests in the spring, Interior Minister Ahmadi Vahid who is the highest-ranking officer in charge of the police said in remarks about the protests: “We had to face some problems and nuisance in the past year but we cannot say that it was a tough year.”

He said that the National Security Council under his supervision was tasked with dealing with the protest, and we accomplished this mission successfully.” Ironically, Vahidi did his best to avoid the word “protest” and referred to it as "this matter” or “the nuisance.” He also said that “It was a problem the Islamic Republic’s enemies had created.”

Vahidi said that the protests did not distract Iranian officials from focusing on what they needed to do for the country. What he said is in contrast with remarks by many Iranian politicians including members of the parliament who have been constantly criticizing the government for its inaction in the face of the country's most serious economic crisis in modern history and for failing to solve Iran's foreign policy problems.

During the past months, observers have warned the government that popular discontent persists "like a fire under the ashes" and that protests might erupt at any moment with small events that can ignite big upheavals. Even Khamenei's top military adviser former IRGC Commander Yahya Rahim Safavi has warned him that protests might reoccur if the officials do not stand by the promises they have made to the nation.

Other Iranian observers such as reformist commentator and political activist Hamid Reza Jalaeipour have warned that : "Iran has not yet entered a revolutionary situation, but if the current unrest continues, the country will move toward a revolutionary phase."