Bodies piled up on the ground after being shot at protests and images of destroyed public buildings. Both images are true, but each serves a side
Previously, they arrived with injuries caused by rubber bullets, now they are admitted to the hospital with bullets in their bodies and skull fractures. A doctor who is working in the midst of the ongoing chaos speaks of a “mass casualty situation”, accusing the government of firing live ammunition at the thousands of people who are gathering on the streets across the country.
In the midst of a practically total blackout – few images have come out since the Internet was cut across the country – this doctor’s report, who spoke to , confirms a scenario that already goes far beyond the revolt that arose after Mahsa Amini’s death.
At the moment there are already more than two thousand confirmed deaths, with the North American newspaper citing a source from the Iranian Ministry of Health who already points to three thousand. This same person did not speak of victims, but “terrorists”, aligning with the government’s narrative, which even began by admitting that it understood the protests based on the economic and financial crisis, but quickly changed to an aggressive tone, accusing the rebels of being at the service of the United States and Donald Trump.
That’s really the game, between what can and cannot be shown, and between what each side wants to be seen. The regime is allowing images to be shown, but only of empty and destroyed streets, with broken ATMs or debris next to mosques. These videos do not show the corridors with thousands of people who are taking to the streets every night, much less amateur videos like the one in which dozens of bodies are scattered outside an Institute of Forensic Medicine south of Tehran.
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Even with the blackout, the image of bags with bodies inside never leaves the minds of those who saw it. There are hundreds of people on the streets walking from bag to bag to see if they can find a loved one, always with the natural hope of not finding them.
These same images, although presented in a different way, also end up on state television, which uses them to show how the protests are harmful to the country, trying to put a divide between the reason for the regime and the immorality of those who want to overthrow it.
“These are the individuals who want to drag normal people – who have nothing to do with these events – and their families into this situation”, says a journalist in one of the local reports that reached international agencies.
In any case, those who support the theocratic regime and those who are fighting like never before to see it fall agree: these are images of brutality that had not yet been seen in a country accustomed to an iron fist.
Taking advantage of what he understands to be a peacemaker streak, Donald Trump tried to fuel the protests, inciting the protesters to take power, even promising that “help is on the way”, in an enigmatic message that opens the door to any military action by the United States in the country.
This eventual action served as gasoline for the regime to suggest that the protesters are doing nothing more than a favor to the United States, but it is this same action that could prove decisive for this protest to take a step further and be more than just that.
“This regime is on a killing spree,” says a protester who spoke to The New York Times, and who has been taking to the streets of Tehran every night in search of change.
She, like thousands of others, has seen snipers placed strategically on the rooftops of the Iranian capital’s downtown, where the protests are most vehement. Some of them, locals report, have already shot to kill those shouting “death to the dictator”.
“I myself saw a young man being shot in the head”, confesses Saeed, also speaking to The New York Times, in one of the few times he was able to access the Internet, taking advantage of a connection to Elon Musk’s Starlink system, who has since announced that the service will be available free of charge throughout the country.
With few signs that the protests are slowing down, Iran and its regime are facing a decisive moment, especially with pressure from the United States and the Trump administration, which even met with the son of the deposed shah in 1979. Special envoy Steve Witkoff spoke with Reza Pahlavi this Tuesday, in a direct call between the White House and one of the biggest faces of the Iranian opposition.
