Iran said to be falsely labeling slain protesters as Basij members attacked by opposition

Iranian regime operatives have been forcing protesters and their families to falsely say that individuals killed by security forces in the recent wave of protests were members of the regime’s Basij paramilitary force who were attacked by demonstrators, according to three unverified accounts shared with The Times of Israel.

The accounts were shared by two Iranian monarchist activists based in the United Kingdom who have been working to get Iranians’ stories out amid the regime’s internet shutdown and violent repression of protesters.

One account centers on Saeed, a 32-year-old man from Shahrud in northeastern Iran, who was shot on January 9 during the nationwide protests. While receiving medical care for his wounds, they said, security forces raided the hospital he was in to arrest injured protesters, but Saeed escaped to his mother’s home. Days later, armed forces stormed the house, took Saeed outside, beat him, and pressured him to sign papers falsely stating that he was a member of the Basij, so that the regime could accuse protesters of attacking him rather than government forces. When he refused, the activists claimed, he was shot in the head and back.

The activists provided multiple graphic images of Saeed’s badly bruised body, which appear to show bullet wounds in his right eye and torso.

Another account relayed by one of the activists was about Mohammad Zareh, 40, from Isfahan, who was allegedly shot with live ammunition by regime forces on suspicion of acting against the regime. Iranian state media later labeled Zareh as a “martyr,” falsely reporting him as a Basij member killed during the protests, one of his relatives told the activist.

A third piece of testimony came from a resident of Tehran, who said in a Farsi-language voice message sent to one of the activists and shared with The Times of Israel that “the regime is trying to make everything look normal and say nothing is happening, but the reality is very different.”

The Tehran resident also claimed that victims’ families were being forced to lie, as well as other consequences: “Families are forced to pay for the bullets used [to kill their relatives], or they are told when and where they can bury the body, or even forced to lie on state TV, claiming the victim was a Basij member killed by protesters.

“This post-mortem cruelty is even more painful than the killings themselves,” the man said, adding, “The people of Iran urgently need external support. Every hour of delay means more arrests, torture, and killings.”

Reports of Iranian authorities forcing such false confessions were also cited in a Friday report by the United Nations Human Rights Council.