Internet ban at home, unrest outside: How bloody crackdown on protesters is making it hard to flee Iran – Firstpost

Iran’s crackdown on anti-government protesters has killed thousands of people. An internet blackout and severing of telephone lines abroad have made it difficult for the rest of the world to grasp the full scale of the demonstrations.

However, online videos and testimonies gathered by activists and international media indicate that security forces have been using live fire and other weapons to quell the anti-government protests. With a communication blackout at home and a bloody crackdown on the streets, how awful is the situation in Iran?

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We take a look.

Deadly crackdown in Iran

Over 2,400 protesters have been killed in Iran during the brutal crackdown, according to a US-based rights group.

The Human Rights Activists News Agency (HRANA) has reported it has verified the deaths of 2,435 protesters and 153 government-affiliated individuals, reported Reuters.

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The protests erupted in Iran on December 28 over soaring prices and the plunging Iranian currency rial, before ballooning into demonstrations against the clerical regime.

More than 16,780 protesters have been arrested since the unrest began, according to HRANA.

The atmosphere in Tehran is “extremely heavy and tense,” a resident told CNN.

A person living near the Iranian capital with access via the Starlink satellite service told BBC Persian that there were “checkpoints in every block”, where cars and the phones of those inside were being inspected by security forces.

Yasi, a protester in her 30s who works for a publishing company, told New York Times (NYT), “The regime is on a killing spree”.

She recounted that she was marching with her friends along Andarzgoo Boulevard in Tehran on the night of January 9 when security forces shot a teenage boy in the leg. His mother screamed in anguish. “‘My son! My son! They shot my son!’ the woman cried,” Yasi noted.

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“I managed to get connected for a few minutes just to say it’s a bloodbath here,” Saeed, a Tehran-based businessman, told the newspaper as he used a satellite internet connection to tell the world what has been happening in Iran.

He declared the brutality of the current crackdown surpassed anything he witnessed during previous protest movements, including those in 2022. “This is unlike any of the protests that came before. I personally saw a young man get shot in the head,” he noted.

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As per NYT, eyewitnesses have alleged that government forces have started opening fire, apparently with automatic weapons and indiscriminately at times, on unarmed protesters. Hospital workers reported that earlier protesters were coming with pellet injuries, but now are arriving with gunshot wounds and skull fractures.

“Mass unlawful killings” are being committed on an “unprecedented scale” amid ongoing unrest, Amnesty International mentioned Wednesday, citing verified videos and eyewitness testimony.

“Continuing impunity for the crimes committed by security forces in current and past protests has emboldened Iranian authorities to persist in their criminal conduct,” the group said.

People inside Iran told Reuters that protests seem to have abated since Monday.

Countries issue travel advisory for Iran

Amid Iran’s brutal crackdown on protests, the US has repeatedly threatened to intervene if the West Asian nation continues to use force against protesters.

The US has not ruled out the possibility of striking Iran. Tensions escalated on Wednesday (January 14), with Iran saying it warned neighbours that it would target American bases in the region in case of US strikes.

Amid the threat, some US personnel have been told to leave a US military base in Qatar as a “precaution,” sources told CNN.

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Several countries have also asked their nationals to avoid travel to or leave Iran. India’s embassy in Tehran urged Indian citizens to leave Iran “by available means.” The Centre has also “strongly advised” Indian nationals to avoid travelling to the West Asian country.

According CNN-News 18 sources, India is planning to evacuate its nationals from Iran. The first batch of Indians in Iran has been asked to remain ready to leave at 8 am on Friday.

The Indian embassy in Iran on Wednesday had asked all citizens in the country to register with the embassy.

Major airlines, including Air India, had to reroute flights currently as Iran closed its airspace to all flights for about five hours amid concerns about possible US military action.

IndiGo issued an advisory that some flights could be delayed due to the closure of the Iranian airspace.

European countries, including Italy, Poland, Germany and Spain, also called on their citizens on Wednesday to leave Iran due to security concerns.

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Around 600 Italians are in the country, mostly in Tehran, the Italian Foreign Ministry declared in a statement, adding that Rome “strongly reiterates its call on Italian citizens in Iran to leave the country.”

The Polish Foreign Ministry on X wrote in a post, advising against all travel to Iran.

Germany issued a warning to its citizens against travelling to Iran, and urged those already in the Islamic Republic to depart. “There is a risk of arbitrary arrest,” the German Embassy in Tehran remarked in a statement.

German authorities urged airlines to avoid Iranian airspace amid the potential use of “anti-aviation weaponry.” German airline Lufthansa noted it would only operate day flights to and from Tel Aviv and Amman.

Spain also advised its nationals to leave Iran. “Due to the highly unstable situation in Iran and the region, travel to Iran is strongly discouraged. Spaniards currently in Iran are advised to leave the country using available means,” the Spanish Foreign Ministry mentioned in a travel advisory.

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The United Kingdom (UK) temporarily closed its embassy in Tehran, saying all staff have been withdrawn from Iran. The British Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office also advised against all travel to Iran.

How Iran crackdown is affecting Indians

As many as 10,765 Indian nationals are present in Iran. Of these 10,320 are Non-Resident Indians (NRIs) and the remaining are Persons of Indian Origin (PIOs), according to the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA).

Thousands of Indian students, mainly from Kashmir, are also studying in the West Asian country. As per a Moneycontrol analysis of data from the Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha, roughly 2,000 Indian students chose Iran for higher education in 2024.

Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister Omar Abdullah on Thursday (January 15) stated he spoke to External Affairs Minister (EAM) S Jaishankar about the situation in Iran and was assured of actions to safeguard the interests of people from the Union Territory stranded in Iran. ”Just spoke to EAM @DrSJaishankar ji about the evolving situation in Iran. He shared his assessment of the ground situation & the plans that the External Affairs Ministry is working on,” he wrote in a post on X.

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“I’m grateful for his assurance that all steps will be taken to safeguard the interests & lives of students & other people from J&K who are in Iran now,” Abdullah posted

All India Majlis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen (AIMIM) chief Asaduddin Owaisi urged EAM Jaishankar to support evacuate an Indian student stranded in Tehran. He reposted the post of an X user named Mohammed Abulhasan, who had flagged the issue.

The AIMIM leader wrote on X, “Sir @DrSJaishankar request your urgent attention to evacuate this Indian student (Ayman Fatima) stranded in Tehran, Iran.” He noted that the student originally hailed from Noorkhan Bazar in Darulshifa in Hyderabad, and was studying at Shahid Beheshti University of Medical Sciences.

Owaisi declared that Fatima’s passport was with the Iranian university authorities and the family has had no contact with the Indian student recently.

With inputs from agencies

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