Haunting footage has emerged of Iranian security forces allegedly firing volleys of bullets at anti-government protesters for six straight minutes as they scream in horror — with reports emerging Tuesday that the death toll could be as high as 20,000.
Footage released by Iran NTV captured the moment gunshots began echoing during a protest against the regime on Jan. 9 in Tehran’s Tehranpars neighborhood, with the echo of a single gun quickly making way for the sounds of hundreds of automatic rounds being fired.
The protester could be heard screaming in horror as the gunfire continued, with shrieks echoing across the neighborhood.
After the first rounds are fired, someone could be heard shouting, “Death to Khamenei!” before there’s more gunfire and screaming.
Several people on motorcycles could also be seen rushing into a parking garage in the neighborhood and taking refuge amid the chaos.
The video lasts for about six minutes, with a few cuts included, before the streets quiet down. The footage does not include any images of dead protesters.
As many as 12,000 to 20,000 people have been killed since the protests broke out in late December, sources told CBS News, citing reports compiled by activist groups.
The estimates are many times larger than the previous death toll released by human rights groups in recent days, with the latest figures claiming that around 500 to 2,000 people have been killed.
The opposition Iran International television network claimed 12,000 people were killed as of Tuesday, while Reuters put it closer to 2,000.
It remains difficult to independently verify the exact death toll due to the nationwide communications blackout, a usual tactic by Tehran when it cracks down on dissent.
Should the higher death tolls be verified, it would mark the bloodiest crackdown on dissent in Iran since the 2022 protests over the murder of Mahsa Amini in police custody.
Since the protests began, videos have also begun emerging of scores of bodies piled up in morgues inside Tehran, with corpses seen thrown in outdoor areas for grieving families to identify them.
Iran has defended the brutal crackdown as necessary to target “rioters” and foreign-influenced “terrorists,” with the regime also arresting some 10,000 people.
The Iran Human Rights NGO group has warned that the death toll is likely to surge as Tehran begins to schedule executions of the detained protesters, with Erfan Soltani, 26, allegedly being the first set to be killed on Wednesday.
