The deployment of machine guns in Boroujerd, an objective document of state-sponsored killings in Iran

The deployment of machine guns on the streets of Boroujerd tells the story of hidden killings and the deadly gap between real statistics and the official narrative.

The British newspaper "The Sunday Times" has revealed in its new report the horrific and unprecedented dimensions of the repression of the Iranian people in recent weeks; a repression that is not only security-related, but also structured, targeted and clearly criminal. According to the report, the number of victims is far higher than the figures that the Islamic Republic government publishes in a limited and controlled manner.

The report shows that in the early hours of this morning, Sunday, January 18, Iranian doctors reported a horrifying statistic. According to the report: “Statistics collected by staff from eight major eye hospitals and 16 emergency departments across the country indicate that at least 16,500 to 18,000 people have been killed while in hospitals, and 330,000 to 360,000 people, including children and pregnant women, have been injured. At least 700 to 1,000 people have also lost an eye.”

These figures, while shocking, are consistent with the pattern of repression seen on the streets of Iran, in which direct fire, the widespread use of shotguns, and targeting of protesters' faces and eyes have become common practices.

The same report states: "Only one eye hospital in Tehran (Noor Clinic) has recorded seven thousand cases of eye injuries."

One of the ophthalmologists at these treatment centers described the situation as follows: "There are so many shotgun-related eye injuries that we don't know who to treat first."

The release of these independent statistics has further exposed the deep gap between the reality on the ground and the official government narrative. While this horrific report of tens of thousands of deaths and hundreds of thousands of injuries was published, an official of the Islamic Republic also reported that only “at least 5,000 people” had been killed during the protests. The same official, in a tone that ignored the scale of the disaster, claimed that this figure would not change much, but images and videos coming from inside Iran tell a different story; a story that not only does not match the official numbers, but also indicates the complete militarization of space against unarmed citizens.

In addition to these horrific statistics, an exclusive video from the city of Borujerd in Lorestan Province was sent to some news agencies, showing the deployment of machine guns and military equipment in the streets last Saturday, January 17.

The person who posted the video says: "The IRGC's machine gun and heavy military equipment have been deployed on the street to further suppress the people, and they are repeatedly announcing the message "We will kill the rioters" over loudspeakers."

In addition, some social media users living in Tehran have also posted a photo of the streets of Aryashar on Sunday, January 18, which shows a machine gun positioned on the street. They wrote with the image: “You have attacked people with machine guns! You will all respond.” The caption below the photo reads: “Today is Sunday, January 28, 1404, and the regime has turned the street into a battlefield with a machine gun.”

These published photos, which show the presence of machine guns on the streets of two cities in Iran, show the Iranian government's all-out war against its own people, and they have undoubtedly been deployed in other cities to suppress the people in a more horrific way if the protests spread again.

The use of weapons of war, the open threat to kill civilians, and the widespread recording of permanent injuries, especially blindness, indicate that the recent crackdown is not a one-off reaction, but part of a deliberate policy to create fear, collective punishment, and break social will.

The totality of this evidence, from independent medical reports to field photographs and implicit confessions by officials, presents a clear picture of an organized state crime; a crime that attempts to downplay not only do not hide the truth, but also highlight the direct responsibility of the Islamic Republic government.