Iran's Fight for Freedom: Mass Killings, Mass Resistance, and the Role of Women

One Month into an Uprising Under Total BlackoutWelcome to another episode of the NCRI Women’s Committee Podcasts. As this deep dive begins, the uprising in Iran is nearly one month old. For anyone watching from the outside, there is a shared frustration: something historic is unfolding, yet the picture remains deeply fragmented.That fragmentation is no accident. Since January 8, the regime has imposed a near-total internet shutdown, making verification and communication from inside the country extraordinarily difficult. Today’s mission is to push past that blackout and piece together what the regime is trying to hide.Two Forces Collide: Brutality Versus a Nation’s CourageWhat emerges from eyewitness reports, medical testimonies, and smuggled evidence is a stark confrontation between two opposing forces. On one side stands the regime’s calculated brutality—actions that go far beyond crowd control and point directly to crimes against humanity. On the other, stands a nation willing to pay any price for freedom.The Pattern of Killing: The “Head and Heart” StrategyMedical records and verified videos reveal a chilling pattern. Victims are not being injured to disperse protests—they are being shot to kill. Fatal gunshot wounds to the head, heart, and lungs appear repeatedly.One verified video shows at least ten women and girls lying on the ground in a single location, all killed by targeted gunfire to vital organs. As one source stated plainly: “These shots were not accidental. They intended to kill.”This is no longer policing. It is systematic assassination.Snipers on Rooftops: Orders to Eliminate, Not DisperseEyewitnesses confirm snipers positioned on rooftops, firing with precision. No one is shot in the legs. No one is warned. The orders are clear: eliminate, not disperse.This marks a terrifying escalation and signals a deliberate policy of lethal force against civilians.Imported Repression: The Fatemiyoun BrigadeThe violence intensifies further with the deployment of outside forces. Reports repeatedly name the Fatemiyoun Brigade, a militia of Afghan fighters trained, commanded, and paid by the IRGC.Used previously in Syria, these mercenaries have no social or emotional ties to the Iranian population. Witnesses say their arrival coincided with a sharp rise in brutality, including the use of military-grade weapons against unarmed civilians.Iranian cities are being treated like foreign battlefields.Hospitals as Frontlines: Mass Death in Real TimeThe scale of killing is overwhelming medical facilities. At Arash Hospital alone, one source reported receiving 120 bodies in a single hour, two bodies per minute.Many victims arrive dead on arrival due to targeted gunshot wounds, leaving doctors powerless to save them. Scorched Earth Tactics: Fire, Fear, and Vanishing PeopleThe regime’s strategy goes beyond killing individuals, it seeks to terrorize the population. In Rasht, security forces reportedly set fire to the historic bazaar on January 8, with people still inside.In the aftermath, hundreds of abandoned shoes were left behind, silent evidence of panic and disappearance. One witness compared the scene to exhibits at the U.S. Holocaust Museum. Support the show