• About Us
  • Who Are We
  • Work With Us
Wednesday, May 14, 2025
No Result
View All Result
NEWSLETTER
The Globe Post
39 °f
New York
44 ° Fri
46 ° Sat
40 ° Sun
41 ° Mon
No Result
View All Result
The Globe Post
No Result
View All Result
Home Featured

Iran Videos Hit Internet Revealing Scope of Crackdown

Staff Writer by Staff Writer
12/03/19
in Featured, World
Iran Rouhani protests riots

At least 12 protesters were killed in unrest across Iran in late 2017.

Share on FacebookShare on Twitter

Videos showing harrowing scenes of bleeding protesters, burning roadblocks and snipers on rooftops have emerged after Iran lifted a near-total internet blackout, opening a window onto what analysts say was one of Tehran’s bloodiest crackdowns.

This repression “was harsher” than during previous protests in Iran, Kamran Matin, senior lecturer in International Relations at Sussex University in Britain, told AFP in Nicosia.

“All the videos I have seen from before the internet was shut down show that from the moment of the gathering of people to ‘shoot to kill’ was very short.”

The protests that broke out across the country from November 15 were ignited by a price hike on fuel – a heavily subsidized commodity in one of OPEC’s largest producers – as part of an effort to ease pressure on the sanctions-hit economy.

But global insight into the protests and most Iranians’ access to those outside the country was quickly cut off when authorities clamped down on internet access, according to NetBlocks, which monitors internet disruptions.

Shaky Footage 

As the internet was gradually restored a week later – with supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei saying a “very dangerous” plot had been foiled – a picture of events began to emerge piecemeal.

Many videos from some of the estimated 100 areas where demonstrations erupted appear to show security forces firing at close range at unarmed demonstrators or beating them with batons.

Shaky footage shows bloodied people prone on the street, shouts and panicked screaming as others rush to their aid.

Amnesty International said it believes more than 200 people were killed in Iran during November protests and the ensuing crackdown.

More: https://t.co/ZZH8PcWTiz pic.twitter.com/haa3Tic0iH

— PBS NewsHour (@NewsHour) December 2, 2019

Crowds can be heard chanting slogans against the security apparatus and the ruling elite, venting frustrations over high inflation and unemployment.

Iran “has never felt so hopeless and sad,” said one Iranian living abroad who was in the country during the unrest, asking not to be named.

Shops, banks, petrol stations and police cars were torched, while major traffic arteries were blocked with tipped dumpsters and burning tires.

In one video from an eastern Tehran neighborhood verified by London-based rights group Amnesty International, a cluster of security forces rush out from behind a building, firing at demonstrators in the street.

Another shows several gunmen in dark uniforms repeatedly firing at people from the roof of a government building in Javanrud, west of Tehran in Kermanshah Province.

Ethnically Kurdish western areas and majority ethnically Arab Khuzestan province were initial sites of unrest, Matin said.

‘So Many What-Ifs’

Amnesty researcher Raha Bahreini said in a New York Times Op-Ed on Monday that authorities have used excessive force in the past against peaceful protesters.

“What we’ve seen this time though is an unprecedented use of lethal force against unarmed protesters,” Bahreini wrote.

Amnesty says 208 people are now believed to have died, with the actual figure expected to be much higher.

Iran’s judiciary on Tuesday rejected as “utter lies” unofficial casualty figures, saying they were being spread by “hostile groups.”

Authorities have said five people were killed and have announced more than 500 arrests, including some 180 “ringleaders,” blaming the unrest on “thugs” backed by outside enemies, including archfoes the United States, Israel, and Saudi Arabia.

But even with careful verification, building a full picture of what happened remains challenging.

Nick Waters of investigative group Bellingcat told AFP it was possible old images from previous protests were being recirculated.

“Right now there’s a load of content coming out at the same time, which makes it more difficult to verify because you don’t have as good a view of the contextual information,” he said.

“You’re not seeing the whole picture,” said Nazila Fathi, author of “The Lonely War: One Woman’s Account of the Struggle for Modern Iran.”

“You’re just seeing what’s in front of the camera, so it’s really hard to put it in numbers. How many people are there, how they were instigated … what if they are older videos. There are so many what-ifs.”

‘Can You Hear Us?’ 

According to Amnesty, “families of victims have been threatened and warned not to speak to the media.”

Some are still doing so, such as the family of Pooya Bakhtiari, one of those confirmed dead by the rights organization.

Videos sent to U.S.-based activist Masih Alinejad by the family start with a warning. In a morgue, someone unzips the body-bag to expose Bakhtiari’s corpse, showing where he was apparently shot in the head.

But for many others, the fear of reprisals is an effective deterrent.

Journalist Mohammad Mosaed was reportedly arrested after he circumvented the blackout to tweet: “Hello Free World! I used 42 different proxies to write this! Millions of Iranians don’t have internet. Can you hear us?”

Kaveh Azarhoosh, senior researcher at Small Media, which monitors access to information and digital rights in Iran, said many Iranians were likely fearful of directly posting videos, often opting to send them to journalists and activists abroad.

“The policy-making establishment has realized that you cannot control online behavior by just controlling online connectivity, there has to be an element of offline fear as well,” he said.


More on the Subject 

UN ‘Alarmed’ Over Reports Dozens Killed in Iran Protests

ShareTweet
Staff Writer

Staff Writer

AFP with The Globe Post

Related Posts

Agnes Callamard
World

Amnesty Head Calls for ‘New Mandela’ in Africa, Denounces Shrinking Freedoms

by Staff Writer
October 28, 2022
Ethiopian refugees who fled the conflict in Tigray gather to receive aid at the Tenedba camp.
World

Eritrean Troops Killed ‘Hundreds’ in Ethiopia Massacre: Amnesty

by Staff Writer
February 26, 2021
Mohammad Hassan Rezaiee was executed in Iran for a crime he allegedly committed when he was 16 years old.
World

UN Condemns Iran’s ‘Appalling’ Execution of Rezaiee, Young Offenders

by Staff Writer
December 31, 2020
Argentinians celebrating a bill that legalizes abortion.
World

Amnesty Gathers 250,000 Signatures for Legal Abortion in Argentina

by Staff Writer
December 17, 2020
A ring of people mourn around an open casket
Environment

Risking Death to Defend Life in Colombia

by Deon Feng
December 4, 2020
An Egyptian confronting a police officer.
Democracy at Risk

UN ‘Very Concerned’ Over Egypt Arrest of Rights Workers

by Staff Writer
November 24, 2020
Next Post
Aminatou Haidar, the "Gandhi of Western Sahara." Photo: AFP

'Gandhi of Western Sahara' Warns Time Running Out to Avoid War

US President Donald Trump

Evidence of Trump Misconduct 'Overwhelming:' Impeachment Report

Recommended

A photo taken with a drone over Cape Town, South Africa. Photo: Johnny Miller/Millefoto

White S. Africans Due for US Resettlement to Leave Sunday: Govt

May 12, 2025
Cardinal Robert Prevost, newly elected as Pope Leo XIV is seen on the Saint Peter’s Basilica balcony, at Saint Peter’s Square in Vatican on May 8, 2025

New Pope Leo XIV Has Mixed Record on Abuse: Campaigners

May 9, 2025
Indian paramilitary soldiers stand guard in Pampore, Pulwama district, south of Srinagar, Jammu and Kashmir, on May 7, 2025.

India and Pakistan: A History of Armed Conflict

May 7, 2025
US President Donald Trump speaks as he departs the White House, on May 5, 2020, in Washington, DC en route to Arizona, where he will tour a mask factory and hold a roundtable on Native American issues

Trump Says Ordering ‘100% Tariff’ on All Movies Produced Abroad

May 5, 2025
A massive power outage strikes Spain and Portugal, briefly affecting parts of France as well, on Monday, April 28, 2025.

Spain Starts Probing Causes of Massive Blackout

April 30, 2025
Cross-border demonstration promoted US-Canada alliances while protesting the policies of President Donald Trump.

Canada Votes for New Government to Take On Trump

April 28, 2025

Opinion

A Black Lives Matter mural in New York City.

Fuhgeddaboudit! America’s Erasure of History

April 2, 2025
Bust of Deputy Rubens Paiva in the Chamber of Deputies

Democratic Brazilians Are Still Here

March 18, 2025
A woman from Guatemala

Dispatch From Central America

January 28, 2025
US President Donald Trump

Dear Trump Supporters: Is This the America You Wanted?

January 28, 2025
Putin talks to Trump in Hamburg

From Roosevelt to Trump: The Complicated Legacy of Personal Diplomacy

November 15, 2024
Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman

Can the UN Human Rights Council Protect Rights While Abusers Sit at the Table?

October 28, 2024
Facebook Twitter

Newsletter

Do you like our reporting?
SUBSCRIBE

About Us

The Globe Post

The Globe Post is part of Globe Post Media, a U.S. digital news organization that is publishing the world's best targeted news sites.

submit oped

© 2018 The Globe Post

No Result
View All Result
  • National
  • World
  • Business
  • Interviews
  • Lifestyle
  • Democracy at Risk
    • Media Freedom
  • Opinion
    • Editorials
    • Columns
    • Book Reviews
    • Stage
  • Submit Op-ed

© 2018 The Globe Post