<
https://www.theguardian.com/global-development/2026/jan/27/iran-protests-death-toll-disappeared-bodies-mass-burials-30000-dead>
"On Thursday 8 January, in a midsize Iranian town, Dr Ahmadi’s* phone began to
buzz. His colleagues in local emergency wards were getting worried.
All week, people had taken to the streets and had been met by police with
batons and pellet guns. With treatment, their injuries should not have been too
serious. But emergency room staff believed many wounded young people were
avoiding hospitals, terrified that registering as trauma patients would lead to
their identification and arrest.
Quietly, Ahmadi [who remains anonymous due to fear of reprisals, but whose
identity, credentials and presence within Iran during the unrest have been
verified by the
Guardian] and his wife began treating patients at a location
outside Iran’s government hospital system. Alerted by a local whisper network,
wounded young people flocked to them. Mostly, they brought superficial injuries
– laceration wounds needing stitches and antibiotics. As Thursday evening wore
on, more and more arrived to be patched up.
The next day, everything abruptly changed. Protesters kept coming, but their
injuries were close-range gunshots and severe stab wounds, typically to the
chest, eyes and genitals. Many proved fatal.
Ahmadi was shocked by the number being killed – more than 40 in his small town
alone – but with the internet blacked out, no one knew what the national
picture was. To piece it together, Ahmadi assembled a network of more than 80
medical professionals across 12 of Iran’s 31 provinces to share observations
and data, and to build a clearer picture of the violence.
They’ve mass murdered people. No one can imagine … I saw just blood, blood
and blood
Their observations, shared with the
Guardian and combined with accounts from
morgues and graveyards across the country, begin to reveal the vast scale of
violence inflicted on Iranians during the state’s crackdown. Ahmadi and his
colleagues are hesitant to provide a figure for the toll but agree “all
publicly cited death tolls represent a severe underestimation”. Comparing the
number of dead they witnessed with hospital baselines, they estimate it could
exceed 30,000, far surpassing official figures. This is based on the conclusion
that “officially registered deaths related to the crackdown likely represent
less than 10% of the real number of fatalities”."
*** Xanni ***
--
mailto:xanni@xanadu.net Andrew Pam
http://xanadu.com.au/ Chief Scientist, Xanadu
https://glasswings.com.au/ Partner, Glass Wings
https://sericyb.com.au/ Manager, Serious Cybernetics
