Iran’s Brutal Suppression of Protests Follows Familiar, Historical Pattern

(New York, N.Y.) – Reports seeping out of Iran describe security forces firing machine guns at peaceful protestors, and regime officials moving bodies from morgues to hide the true scale of the government crackdown.

Amnesty International estimates that around 115 protesters have been killed during demonstrations in more than 100 Iranian cities. Some estimates put the number of arrests alone at around 4,000. The Iranian regime’s quick and brutal response to the latest spontaneous protests follows a familiar playbook the government has used against mass protests in the past.   

United Against Nuclear Iran’s (UANI) resource, Death, Detention, and Darkness: Iran’s War on Protestors, chronicles the brutal tactics unleashed by Iran’s leaders in response to current peaceful demonstrations against corruption and mismanagement; the 2017-18 economic unrest; protests in 2009 against the outcome of the disputed presidential election that year; and protests by Iranian university students in 1999. In every instance, the regime has killed, imprisoned, and tortured protestors, while impeding Iranians’ access to the internet and social media.

To read Death, Detention, and Darkness: Iran’s War on Protestors, please click here.