Inside Iran protests: No space in morgues as witnesses describe crackdown: ‘A massacre is unfolding’

Dubai: They spoke in whispers, careful not to reveal their names, but their accounts poured out with urgency as Iran remains largely cut off from the outside world.

Witnesses and medical staff describing the crackdown on nationwide protests paint a grim picture of gunfire in the streets, overwhelmed hospitals and bodies stacked for lack of space.

Staff at three hospitals in Iran told the BBC that medical facilities were inundated with people killed or wounded during the unrest. A medic at a Tehran hospital said security forces fired “direct shots to the heads of the young people, to their hearts as well.”

A hospital worker in the capital said the scale of casualties left staff struggling to cope, often unable to provide even basic emergency care.

“The number was so large that there wasn’t enough space in the morgue; the bodies were placed on top of one another,” she told the BBC. “After the morgue became full, they stacked them on top of one another in the prayer room.”

Despite an internet shutdown, Iranians took to the streets again overnight as rights groups warned on Sunday that authorities were committing a “massacre” to crush the demonstrations.

The protests, which began nearly two weeks ago over soaring prices and economic hardship, have now evolved into a broader movement against the theocratic system that has ruled Iran since the 1979 Islamic Revolution.

The US-based Center for Human Rights in Iran (CHRI) said it had received “eyewitness accounts and credible reports indicating that hundreds of protesters have been killed across Iran during the current internet shutdown.”

“A massacre is unfolding in Iran,” the group said. “The world must act now to prevent further loss of life.”

CHRI said hospitals were overwhelmed, blood supplies were running low and that many protesters had been shot in the eyes — a tactic it described as deliberate.

Similar accounts have emerged from residents who spoke to CNN, describing scenes of chaos both in hospitals and on the streets as security forces intensified their response following a televised speech by Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei — a moment protesters say marked a turning point.

A woman in her mid-60s told CNN she had never seen crowds like this in Tehran — streets packed with people of all ages moving together with purpose. What she later saw inside a hospital still haunts her, she said, describing bodies piled on top of one another.

“I had never imagined something like that,” she said. “It was chaos.”

A man in his 70s who was also in the streets that night said security forces carrying military rifles opened fire by Friday evening, killing “many people.” Both spoke on condition of anonymity, fearing repercussions for themselves and their families.

In the western city of Borujerd, a single image captured the defiance coursing through the protests. In a video shared by Iran International, a middle-aged woman marched alongside demonstrators, blood streaming from her chin, yet seemingly unfazed.

“I am not afraid,” she said. “I have been dead for 47 years.”

According to the US.-based Human Rights Activists News Agency (HRANA), at least 192 people have been killed and more than 2,300 arrested nationwide in the past 13 days, with protests recorded at more than 500 locations across 180 cities. The group cautioned the true toll could be far higher due to the nationwide communications blackout.

Iranian state television has focused on reporting casualties among security forces while portraying control over the country, without acknowledging deaths among demonstrators, whom it increasingly labels “terrorists.” At the same time, state media acknowledged that protests continued into Sunday morning, including in Tehran and the holy city of Mashhad.

Despite the shutdown, residents say the blackout has failed to deter the unrest.

“People got bored and frustrated,” a 47-year-old Tehran resident told CNN. “So they went out.”

Iran’s President Masoud Pezeshkian said “rioters” must not distrupt Iranian society.

“The people (of Iran) should not allow rioters to disrupt society. The people should believe that we (the government) want to establish justice,” he told state broadcaster IRIB.

In Tehran, an AFP journalist described a city in a state of near paralysis.

As violence escalates inside Iran, tensions are also rising beyond its borders. The New York Times and the Wall Street Journal reported, citing US officials, that President Donald Trump has been briefed on military options for possible action against Iran, though no final decision has been made. The Times said Trump was “seriously considering” authorising action, with a range of options presented.

What began as anger over inflation and economic collapse has hardened into something deeper. For many demonstrators, fear appears to have given way to resolve.

“We know the risks,” one protester told CNN. “But after all these years, silence feels worse.”