By Gloria Ogbonna
Iran’s ruling regime is facing new and deeply disturbing accusations as opposition and human rights groups report widespread sexual assault, torture, and mass killings carried out against protesters many of them teenagers during a violent nationwide crackdown that began late last year.
According to the National Council of Resistance of Iran (NCRI), an overseas-based opposition organization, credible eyewitness accounts indicate that Iranian security forces sexually assaulted young protesters after detaining them during demonstrations earlier this month.
The group said it received multiple reports detailing abuse inflicted on both teenage girls and boys while they were in regime custody.
The unrest erupted across Iran in late December following a dramatic economic collapse that sent the national currency into freefall, wiping out savings and pushing millions into desperation.
Rather than address public grievances, the regime responded with overwhelming force, launching a brutal suppression campaign under the cover of an internet blackout that severely limited information flowing out of the country.
Human rights monitors estimate that nearly 5,000 people have been confirmed killed so far, with more than 26,000 arrests recorded.
However, independent observers warn that the true death toll may be far higher—possibly two or even three times the confirmed figure—given the regime’s systematic efforts to conceal evidence.
The NCRI cited eyewitness testimony stating that “several young women and men were forced to undress” after being taken into custody, allegedly so security forces could inspect their bodies for pellet gun wounds.
Numerous witnesses have told international media outlets that Iranian forces fired pellet guns indiscriminately into crowds, deliberately “tagging” protesters with identifiable injuries so they could later be tracked down, arrested, and punished.
Iranian medical professionals have since reported treating thousands of victims for severe pellet gun injuries, including widespread eye damage that has left many permanently blind.
Further corroborating the allegations, the Kurdistan Human Rights Network (KHRN), a France-based monitoring organization, reported that at least two detainees were sexually assaulted by Iranian security personnel in the city of Kermanshah. One of the victims, KHRN said, was only 16 years old.
“During the transfer, security forces touched their bodies with batons,” KHRN stated. “They beat and applied pressure to the anal area with a baton through the clothing.”
These reports echo grim patterns documented during earlier protests. The UK Guardian noted that during the 2022 “Women, Life, Freedom” uprising, detainees described systematic rape, beatings, and torture. Despite the ongoing internet blackout, fresh accounts of similar abuses are now emerging once again.
One particularly harrowing case involves a 40-year-old protester, Soran Feyzizadeh, who was reportedly tortured to death after his arrest on January 7.
His family was not informed of his death for two days. When authorities finally released his body only after demanding a large ransom it was described as “barely recognizable” due to extensive injuries from repeated beatings.
The Abdorrahman Boroumand Center for Human Rights in Iran, based in the United States, reported that many detainees have been transferred to prisons notorious for human rights abuses, including facilities known for “beating, flogging, and sexual assault.” The group described a disturbing pattern of abuse designed to terrorize both detainees and the broader population.
Both the NCRI and KHRN further reported that families of the deceased are being charged exorbitant fees up to 10 billion rials, nearly $10,000 at current exchange rates to retrieve the bodies of their loved ones. In many cases, the bodies have allegedly been burned in an apparent effort to conceal the extent of the injuries and killings.
Families have also been forced to hold funerals under heavy security supervision and coerced into making public statements blaming protesters themselves for the violence, rather than the regime.
Meanwhile, opposition outlet Iran International reported that fragments of the truth are slowly leaking out despite the information blackout.
The outlet detailed previously unreported killings, including the execution of a shopkeeper in Shiraz who was allegedly shot dead on the spot by security forces for sheltering protesters inside his business.
Iran International also cited growing evidence that regime snipers fired randomly from rooftops into crowds and accused authorities of escalating efforts to hide the scope of their brutality.
These measures reportedly include destroying corpses, intimidating medical workers, restricting death certificates, and banning public funerals.
Among the most chilling accounts were eyewitness claims that some individuals placed into body bags and transported to a Tehran morgue were still alive and breathing at the time.
As more details emerge, opposition groups warn that what is coming to light may represent only a fraction of the atrocities committed during the crackdown.
They are urging the international community to act swiftly, arguing that silence or inaction would amount to complicity in one of the most severe human rights crises Iran has faced in recent years.
Source Breitbrat
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