Disturbing reports have surfaced as Iranian internet access is gradually restored following days of total communication blackouts. An increasingly horrifying picture of atrocities virtually unparalleled in the 21st century is being revealed, further intensifying public fear, anger, and revulsion.
According to sources, numerous injured protesters were not taken to hospitals but to forensic morgues while they were still alive and transported by truck to a hangar facility in Kahrizak. Among them, several were still breathing.
In a shocking revelation, the Iran Human Rights Documentation Center has reported the case of a young, wounded protester who survived by pretending to be dead inside a body bag. He heard gunshots fired at wounded civilians who moved or moaned while being held in body bags. Fearing he would be next, he remained motionless in the bag for three days, until a crowd of families stormed the site in search of their loved ones, enabling him to escape.
A forensic medicine specialist from Tehran told The Media Line that the level of brutality displayed by the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) in killing wounded protesters, who were piled atop one another in hospital corridors, was so extreme that many healthcare workers suffered severe psychological shock. They witnessed how wounded individuals who were still alive were transferred to morgues and placed in body bags. He also said he had heard from other physicians that wounded patients were killed by IRGC forces.
Professor Amir Mobarez Parasta, who has investigated the massacre of protesters in Iran on Jan. 8 and 9, states that half of those killed never reached hospitals and that many other deaths were never officially recorded in medical facilities. He also confirms reports of protesters being found alive inside body bags.
Healthcare professionals observed bodies that still had essential medical equipment attached, such as oxygen tubes, electrodes, and ECG monitoring leads. They concluded that these individuals had been forcibly transferred to morgues while under medical treatment and left to die.
They further pointed to the absence of official medical death reports for some protesters who died in hospitals, as well as to “numerous cases in which individuals with multiple gunshot wounds were left without any medical attention among the dead protesters.”
[1]An Iranian nurse who witnessed executions in hospitals and was later killed by Iranian forces during the crackdown. (Courtesy)
[2]Note obtained by TML from a nurse in Iran reporting that patients were being executed in hospitals. (Courtesy)
The Media Line obtained a message from a nurse who confirmed that patients were being systematically executed. The nurse was later killed.
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The note read: “I saw it with my own eyes; they came and took the wounded away. There was even someone in the operating room—I heard they even delivered finishing shots (execution shots). Taking someone out of the operating room means they intend to kill them. We are all the ‘walking dead’ now. I cannot describe the level of shock we are in. I’m not afraid of them killing me. My only reason for wanting to stay alive is to be there for the wounded. I cannot describe the level of shock we are in. But I want to stay alive just to attend to the wounded. You cannot imagine how many injured people we have here.”
I saw it with my own eyes; they came and took the wounded away. There was even someone in the operating room—I heard they even delivered finishing shots (execution shots).
Some estimates suggest that the death toll may be far higher than initial figures.
Multiple reports from cities across Iran in recent days indicate that some families have buried the bodies of their loved ones at home, while others, out of fear of abduction by security forces, have kept severely wounded individuals hidden.
Horrifying videos have reached viewers outside Iran in recent days, after circulating through various clandestine channels from cities across the country, showing an extensive and sustained massacre of protesters on Iran’s streets. Adding to the horror of this unprecedented bloodshed in Iran’s recent history are numerous reports of execution-style shots fired at wounded protesters lying in the streets.
On Friday, an intensive care unit nurse in Iran told The Media Line that she had personally seen multiple bodies bearing not only gunshot wounds to vital organs but also to the head, clear evidence that security and military forces, after shooting protesters and knocking them to the ground, approached them and killed them at close range.
Many protesters who took to the streets on Thursday, Jan. 8, and Friday, Jan. 9, say that the intent of the military forces, who from Thursday night onward had deployed heavy machine guns and armored vehicles throughout the streets, was neither to disperse nor even to injure demonstrators, but rather to kill them.
A large number of wounded patients were abducted by security forces after undergoing surgery
Sahar Motallebi an Iranian physician who has provided online medical assistance to the wounded inside the country, states: “There are cases in which bullet entry wounds are visible on the forehead, with blood patterns running horizontally, indicating that the shot was fired while the individual was lying down. The presence of catheters on these bodies also shows that the person had been in an operating room or under medical treatment. These findings are consistent with reports from Sina Hospital, where a large number of wounded patients were abducted by security forces after undergoing surgery.”
An Iranian protester who recently fled the country to a neighboring state told The Media Line that the scale of live fire in the streets of Tehran—particularly in the western and eastern districts—with clear intent to kill, was so extensive that it resembled a civil war. Many of these streets, he said, were filled with bodies.
Although no large-scale street demonstrations have been reported in recent days—largely due to an undeclared state of martial law following the brutal crackdown—Iranians have chanted slogans against Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei during the funerals of those killed. In some areas, residents have also shouted slogans from rooftops at night.
Nationwide protests in Iran began on December 28, 2025, after economic frustrations linked to inflation, rising prices and a collapsing currency ignited demonstrations which spread throughout the country and became increasingly aimed in opposition to the regime.
Estimates of casualties vary widely due to internet blackouts and conflicting sources. Official Iranian state media reported about 3,117 deaths, including civilians and security forces, while activist groups and independent tallies place confirmed deaths at several thousand more, with some estimates exceeding 5,000 or even suggesting the toll could be far higher, potentially over 30,000, with many thousands injured or detained.
Omid Habibinia is an investigative journalist for over 36 years in multi-media platforms. For seven years served as a senior international correspondent and breaking news editor for Iran International, London. Habibinia was a political prisoner during the 1988 mass execution of political prisoners in Iran.