Iran Protest Victim: 'They Were Shooting to Kill'

TEMPO.CO, Jakarta - In January 2026, weeks before the US and Israel launched attacks on Iran, thousands of Iranians risked their lives in the largest and most widespread public uprising the regime in Tehran had ever faced.

The protests began in December 2025 amid grievances over economic hardship, but soon grew in scope and scale. 

The regime's security forces, made up of elements from the Ministry of Intelligence, the Basij militia, and the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC), confronted the protesters on the streets with gunfire and beatings.

The scale of the crackdown drew international condemnation. At one point, US President Donald Trump threatened military strikes against the regime in response, telling protesters "help is on its way." 

But help never came. As the ensuing war overshadowed the aftermath of the bloody crackdown, support for the Iranian public in standing up against the regime fell off of the agenda.

There are no precise figures for the number of people killed or injured in the January 2026 protests. Iranian authorities have put the death toll at over 3,100.

However, Amnesty International stresses that because of the internet shutdown during the protests, the scale of the crackdown, and pressure on victims' families, the actual number of deaths is likely to be much higher.

The US-based Human Rights Activists in Iran (HRANA) confirmed over 7,000 deaths and investigated thousands more. 

Fearing backlash, victims forego medical treatment

Seven months after the bloody crackdown, victims are dealing with permanent physical disability along with losing the opportunity to work or get an education.

Obtaining information from within Iran is both difficult and dangerous, and DW's interview partners chose to use pseudonyms for safety reasons. DW was able to contact victims through human rights networks. 

One protester, Massoud, was buried just days ago, after months of enduring untreated wounds after being injured by hundreds of pellets during demonstrations in a city outside of Tehran.

According to relatives, who did not want to reveal their exact location, Massoud was first hit by pellets in the head. A plainclothes officer then shot him in the thigh and repeatedly kicked the wound, dislocating his femur from the hip joint.

Massoud struggled with his injuries for months. His relatives raised money for his treatment at home, and he underwent several surgeries, but the infection kept returning and spreading. Massoud in his final days declined further medical treatment, which his brother said had made him ashamed for being "such a burden" on his family. 

Hamid Hemmatpour, a physician and board member of the Austrian Association of Health Professionals for Human Rights, told DW that fear of arrest and the insecurity of medical facilities forced many of the wounded to seek treatment at home.

Hemmatpour said the transfer and treatment of the injured during the protest crackdowns was catastrophic.

Some victims were transported in pickup trucks because of a shortage of ambulances, while others were suffocated en route to treatment while piled beneath the bodies of other wounded people. 

"During two days of protests, around 2,000 injured people in need of hospitalization sought treatment at just one of the central hospitals in one of the cities, while the hospital had a capacity of 400 beds," he said.

"Security forces, meanwhile, were trying to take some of the wounded away while they were still in that condition," he added.

Iranian security forces 'shoot to kill'

Hemmatpour, citing reports from doctors inside Iran, estimates the number of injured at several thousand.

He told DW the most common injuries were to the head, neck and chest, followed by the abdomen and limbs. He added that most injuries were caused by live ammunition and automatic weapons. Targeting the head and chest, he said, may indicate shooting with the intention to kill. 

Hemmatpour said that in some cases, security forces attacked people with knives and machetes in areas including southern Tehran after their ammunition ran out.

But much of what we know about the crackdown on protesters comes from human rights organizations.

The international non-profit organization Iran House documented victims like Naghmeh, a teenage student who lost an eye, or Mina, a pianist who lost the use of her fingers, and Milad, a runner who has lost a leg.

But consequences of the crackdown were not limited to protesters.

Mahshid Nazemi, a human rights activist and director of public relations at Iran House, said that some of those injured had not been taking part in the protests at all. These were people shot while shopping, returning from a party or standing outside their businesses.

Nazemi said that even families who filed complaints over indiscriminate shootings targeting their relatives were themselves subjected to prosecution by security forces. 

Mahla, a 32-year-old woman and the sole provider for three children, worked in Tehran's bazaar before the protests. On January 9, while trying to get her teenage son out of a gathering, she was shot by Basij forces and hit by dozens of pellets. 

Fearing security forces, she was treated at home for some time, but infections from her wounds eventually forced her to seek help from nurses she knew.

Seven months later, injuries to her right leg and wrist still prevent her from returning to work. Lack of insurance, financial pressure and a sudden increase in rent have also forced her to leave her home.

"They were shooting to kill. I wish they had killed me rather than leaving me disabled," she told DW.

I thought the regime was 'finished' 

Nazemi said that some teenagers, after being injured, no longer want to continue their education. Psychological pressure on mothers, financial difficulties and family tensions have also increased.

According to her, some of those injured, from athletes and hairdressers to pianists and taxi drivers, have been forced to undergo amputations after severe injuries and infections, losing their jobs or their professional futures. 

Ashkan was 17 when he was injured. Before the protests, he worked as a porter in Tehran's bazaar while learning jewelry-making, hoping to acquire a skill that would allow him to support himself and his mother. 

He joined the protests in Tehran on January 8. He told DW that he thought Trump was going to attack and bring the Islamic Republic's rule to an end. Still, he left a copy of his will on the table as he left the house.

"I thought they would be finished by the evening, that we would go out and make some noise," he told DW.

"I was wearing a mask, and I was writing slogans on the wall of a mosque with some other young people from the bazaar when one of them fell to the ground," he said.

Ashkan said a bullet struck his friend directly in the heart; fired from a sniper rifle from a rooftop.

"When I raised my head, everything went black. I heard people saying, 'They shot him in the eye.' When I regained consciousness in the hospital, I saw that my left leg had been amputated below the knee. Everything was blurry."

Ashkan also lost an eye, and continues to suffer from serious complications.

"What has been taken from me is not just a leg and an eye; there is no longer any such thing as a future for me and my mother," he said.

Regime continues crackdown

The Islamic Republic's regime continues to pressure or kill those it considers linked to the January protests. 

In July and August 2026, 12 people were sentenced to death in connection with the so-called "Alikhani Square" case in the city of Isfahan. During the protests on January 8, authorities claim four government security forces were killed by demonstrators.

Five people have been executed so far in connection with the case, two of them publicly in the square.

And executions continue. According to a UN report, since March 19, 2026, at least 56 people have been executed on charges related to national security, 27 of them protesters from January 2026. 

Read: In Iran, Contact with Foreigners Could Soon Be a Crime

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