Transcription
Iranians have taken to the streets in the largest protest the country has seen since 2022. Days of large-scale demonstrations have rocked the country in many major cities. Protesters stood in front of police water cannons refusing to move. Others shouted death to the dictator and set fire to statues.
BBC Verify and BBC Persian have analyzed more than a 100 videos of anti-government demonstrations in more than 50 towns and cities across the country. Those 50 places represent a bare minimum. We've only mapped protests with verified video. That's footage we've identified the location for and checked it's new. There will have been more protests, potentially many more, where we haven't been able to verify video or seen any at all.
Anger initially broke out in the capital Tan on the 28th of December after the value of the country's currency sharply dropped. Authorities have traditionally used violence to crush unrest. In 2022, Mahasa Amini's death in police custody sparked protests unlike any the country had seen before, in which human rights groups say more than 550 people were killed by security forces.
In the latest protests, police and security forces seem more restrained at first, but verified footage shows officers ramping up the use of force to quell protest in early January. One of the most violent crackdowns was in the western province of LM. Verified footage shows a demonstration taking place outside a hospital. People stand chanting, then security forces open fire, leaving behind a trail of smoke and fire as protesters flee.
Experts say the evolution of these protests is significant. "We are now witnessing protests in pretty much every major city in Iran, which actually tells you that the the economic situation in Iran is affecting even the base of support of the Islam Republic. This started as an economic protest, but quickly morphed into political."
While most of the footage shows security forces carrying out violence against protesters, a few videos show demonstrators attacking government forces. In one video, a demonstrator with an improvised flamethrower sets a security officer on fire after security forces violently detain and beat up a protester.
Using verified funeral videos and interviews with family members and friends, BBC Persian has confirmed the identities of at least 15 people reported dead since the 28th of December. Foreign-based human rights groups HA says at least 35 people have so far been killed in the unrest, including two affiliated with security forces.
The violent crackdown on protest coincided with Supreme Leader Ayatah Ali Khan's first public reaction to the unrest when he said that riers must be put down. The Iranian regime is already facing regional instability and a crumbling economy. Now it must deal with a new wave of protest.