In January 2026, weeks before the US and Israel launched attacks on Iran, thousands of Iranians risked their lives in the largest and most widespread public uprising the regime in Tehran had ever faced.
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regime → launch → Tehran
The protests began in December 2025 amid grievances over economic hardship but soon grew in scope and scale.
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protests → begin → scope
The regime's security forces, made up of elements from the Ministry of Intelligence, the Basij militia, and the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC), confronted the protesters on the streets with gunfire and beatings.
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forces → make → gunfire
The scale of the crackdown drew international condemnation.
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scale → draw → condemnation
At one point, US President Donald Trump threatened military strikes against the regime in response, telling protesters "help is on its way."
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help → threaten → way
But help never came.
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help → come → ?
As the ensuing war overshadowed the aftermath of the bloody crackdown, support for the Iranian public to stand up against the regime fell off the agenda.
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public → ensue → agenda
Iranian authorities have put the death toll at over 3,100.
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authorities → put → 3,100
However, Amnesty International stresses that because of the internet shutdown during the protests, the scale of the crackdown and pressure on victims' families, the actual number of deaths is likely to be much higher.
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number → stress → deaths
The US-based Human Rights Activists in Iran (HRANA) confirmed over 7,000 deaths and investigated thousands more.
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Activists → base → thousands
Fearing backlash, victims forego medical treatment
Seven months after the bloody crackdown, victims are dealing with permanent physical disability along with losing the opportunity to work or get an education.
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victims → fear → education
Obtaining information from within Iran is both difficult and dangerous, and DW's interview partners chose to use pseudonyms for safety reasons.
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partners → obtain → reasons
DW was able to contact victims through human rights networks.
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DW → contact → networks
One protester, Massoud, was buried just days ago, after months of enduring untreated wounds after being injured by hundreds of pellets during demonstrations in a city outside of Tehran.
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protester → bury → Tehran
According to relatives, who did not want to reveal their exact location, Massoud was first hit by pellets in the head.
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Massoud → accord → head
A plainclothes officer then shot him in the thigh and repeatedly kicked the wound, dislocating his femur from the hip joint.
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officer → shoot → joint
Massoud struggled with his injuries for months.
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Massoud → struggle → months
His relatives raised money for his treatment at home, and he underwent several surgeries, but the infection kept returning and spreading.
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infection → raise → surgeries
Massoud in his final days declined further medical treatment, which his brother said had made him ashamed for being "such a burden" on his family.
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him → decline → family
Hamid Hemmatpour, a physician and board member of the Austrian Association of Health Professionals for Human Rights, told DW that fear of arrest and the insecurity of medical facilities forced many of the wounded to seek treatment at home.
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fear → tell → home
Hemmatpour said the transfer and treatment of the injured during the protest crackdowns was catastrophic.
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transfer → say → crackdowns
Some victims were transported in pickup trucks because of a shortage of ambulances, while others were suffocated en route to treatment while piled beneath the bodies of other wounded people.
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others → transport → people
"During two days of protests, around 2,000 injured people in need of hospitalization sought treatment at just one of the central hospitals in one of the cities, while the hospital had a capacity of 400 beds," he said.
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he → seek → beds
"Security forces, meanwhile, were trying to take some of the wounded away while they were still in that condition," he added.
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he → try → condition
Iranian security forces 'shoot to kill'
Hemmatpour, citing reports from doctors inside Iran, estimates the number of injured at several thousand.
He told DW the most common injuries were to the head, neck and chest, followed by the abdomen and limbs.
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injuries → shoot → abdomen
He added that most injuries were caused by live ammunition and automatic weapons.
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injuries → add → ammunition
Targeting the head and chest, he said, may indicate shooting with the intention to kill.
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he → target → intention
Hemmatpour said that in some cases, security forces attacked people with knives and machetes in areas including southern Tehran after their ammunition ran out.
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ammunition → say → Tehran
But much of what we know about the crackdown on protesters comes from human rights organizations.
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we → know → organizations
The international non-profit organization Iran House documented victims like Naghmeh, a teenage student who lost an eye, or Mina, a pianist who lost the use of her fingers, and Milad, a runner who has lost a leg.
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who → document → leg
But consequences of the crackdown were not limited to protesters.
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consequences → limit → protesters
Mahshid Nazemi, a human rights activist and director of public relations at Iran House, said that some of those injured had not been taking part in the protests at all.
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some → say → protests
These were people shot while shopping, returning from a party or standing outside their businesses.
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These → shoot → businesses
Nazemi said that even families who filed complaints over indiscriminate shootings targeting their relatives were themselves subjected to prosecution by security forces.
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who → say → forces
Mahla, a 32-year-old woman and the sole provider for three children, worked in Tehran's bazaar before the protests.
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Mahla → work → protests
On January 9, while trying to get her teenage son out of a gathering, she was shot by Basij forces and hit by dozens of pellets.
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she → try → pellets
Fearing security forces, she was treated at home for some time, but infections from her wounds eventually forced her to seek help from nurses she knew.
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she → fear → nurses
Seven months later, injuries to her right leg and wrist still prevent her from returning to work.
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injuries → prevent → work
Lack of insurance, financial pressure and a sudden increase in rent have also forced her to leave her home.
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Lack → force → home
"They were shooting to kill.
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They → shoot → ?
…and 25 more, not listed.
The Aporia
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