Iran accused of extorting families for protesters’ bodies amid internet blackout |
Iranian authorities are facing grave allegations that security forces demanded large payments from families in exchange for returning the bodies of protesters killed during a recent nationwide uprising, according to testimonies shared during a brief and unusual break in the country’s near-total internet blackout. The claims, emerging from inside Iran during a short window of restored connectivity, add to mounting reports of an extensive and violent crackdown on anti-government demonstrations that may have claimed thousands of lives.
The allegations surfaced after a rare disruption in Iran’s 12-day communications shutdown allowed limited access to online messaging platforms. Protesters and residents used the fleeting connection to share firsthand accounts in private group chats, describing mass casualties, intimidation of grieving families, and efforts by authorities to suppress public mourning.
“I got connected,” one participant wrote in a private chat during the brief outage, prompting another to ask how such access was possible. “I don’t know,” came the reply. Despite the uncertainty, users quickly exchanged information about what many described as the most severe unrest since the 1979 Islamic Revolution.
According to several participants, hospitals in major cities were overwhelmed with bodies following weeks of protests that began over economic grievances but rapidly evolved into a broader revolt against Iran’s clerical leadership. While such accounts cannot be independently verified due to ongoing restrictions on information, multiple sources described scenes of mass casualties and alleged that security forces used lethal force to suppress demonstrations.
The protests reportedly intensified in early January, expanding from Tehran’s Grand Bazaar-long considered a symbolic and economic center of dissent-to........