Videos from Tehran morgue testify to very harsh suppression of protests in Iran

Caution! The text may be shocking

BBC Verify and BBC Persian have analyzed and verified these videos, but are not publishing them, as they contain extremely graphic, bloody footage.

These video recordings are some of the clearest available evidence of how brutally Iranian authorities are suppressing the protests that began on December 28 in Tehran and subsequently spread across the entire country.

Video analysis shows that almost 200 bodies were captured on camera, scattered throughout the morgue. Many bodies show wounds. Many bags have birth dates marked on them, and one of the deceased was only 16 years old.

The BBC verified videos of unrest from 68 localities in Iran. In reality, the protests likely encompassed a much larger number of cities and towns. However, there is very little information about them: authorities have completely shut down the internet across the entire 90-million-strong country.

The total number of people killed during the unrest is unknown. The US-based human rights organization Human Rights Activists News Agency (HRANA) estimates the number of fatalities at over 2,500 people. An Iranian official this week told Reuters that about two thousand people had died, blaming "terrorists" for their deaths.

Павялічыць

X@vahid. The date on the body bag is written according to the Iranian calendar. The deceased was only 16 years old.

The videos, analyzed by BBC Verify and BBC Persian, were published on Tuesday, January 13, by US-based Iranian blogger Vahid. According to him, these clips were filmed on January 10 at the Kahrizak Forensic Medicine Center in southern Tehran. Vahid, who has already published dozens of videos from Iran, writes that the person who filmed these clips then traveled 1000 km to the border to connect to a neighboring country's mobile network and upload the video online.

Павялічыць

Satellite image of the Tehran Forensic Medicine Center and the route taken by the video's author through the center's territory.

Two videos show rows of bodies in bags. The operator walks along them on a path in the northern part of the large Kahrizak complex. Then he passes through a courtyard, enters a large hangar, and looks into several adjacent rooms — all of which are also filled with bodies in bags.

At one point, the video's author calls what is happening an apocalypse. Elsewhere, he is heard saying: "Today is Saturday, one day after the call." He is referring to the call by Reza Pahlavi, son of Iran's last Shah, who lives in the US, to take to the streets.

Two other clips are compilations of photos of bodies in bags. One of the bodies appears to be burned.

BBC Verify and the Persian Service counted at least 186 bodies in the five-minute video and at least 178 bodies in the 16-minute clip. Some bodies likely appeared in both videos, so the exact total number is difficult to determine, but it is clearly greater than 186.

The two videos consist of at least nine clips edited together. The placement of shadows suggests that these parts were filmed at different times throughout the day.

Journalists compared the footage with satellite images on Google and identified characteristic details of the Kahrizak complex, including individual buildings, fences, and the red roof of a hangar.

During filming, the operator enters the center from the courtyard and sees new bodies on stretchers and on the floor. Some bags are fully zipped, others are half-open or completely unzipped, revealing the faces of the deceased and, in some cases, their wounds. One, for example, shows a deep abdominal wound. Some bodies lie completely uncovered.

Scattered blood-stained towels and sheets are visible throughout the complex, as well as trickles of blood on the floor.

Павялічыць

X@vahid. Body bags in the courtyard of the Forensic Medicine Center in Tehran.

Papers with personal details are attached to some bags: name, personal number, date of birth, and death. On some bags, this data is written with a white marker. From these, it is evident that among the deceased captured on film, there is at least one woman and one teenager. Two individuals are marked as unidentified.

On three bags, January 9 is marked as the date of death. On one, the date of birth according to the Iranian calendar is indicated: 1/1/1388 — which is March 21, 2009, meaning the deceased was 16 years old.

At one point in the 16-minute video, the operator turns the phone camera towards a nearby building and says: "There are many [bodies] inside there. You can't go in there… That's the women's section."

In Iranian morgues, according to religious rules, the bodies of men and women are kept separately.

In another fragment, we see a body bag in a hearse and a man nearby telling a female official that it is his sister. The video shows several ambulances, hearses, and vans on the morgue's territory; local staff examine rows of bodies, take swabs from the deceased for analysis, and speak with people looking for the bodies of their loved ones.

It is not entirely clear why the bodies of those killed during the protest suppression were brought specifically to the Forensic Medicine Center. Eyewitnesses told BBC Persian that hospitals are overflowing with injured and killed in the clashes.

According to HRANA data as of January 15, 2435 protest participants, 153 people associated with the authorities, nine accidental civilians, and 12 children died. Human rights activists emphasize that the actual number of deceased is likely much higher — these are only those for whom they have accurate information.

The video shows many people entering and exiting the morgue's territory. Many of them are clearly searching for the bodies of their relatives and loved ones. Crying and moaning are constantly heard.

"Some of the best of us have been killed," says the video's author off-screen.

Iranian state television stated that most of the "significant number" of deceased brought to Kahrizak were security forces personnel or accidental passers-by who had no connection to the demonstrators.

Most foreign media outlets, including the BBC, are prohibited from operating in Iran, so when covering current events, we have to rely on verified videos and photos from social media.

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