Tehran, Jan 17 (.) Iran’s powerful theocratic guard and paramilitary force, the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, was reportedly highly complicit in the mass killings of Iranian protesters on January 8 and 9, with its Quds Force and its allied proxy forces in the region playing a central role in the massacre, which allegedly numbered as high as 12,000, making it an unprecedented killing in contemporary Iran’s history since 1979.
According to Iran International, these groups allegedly included Afghanistan’s Fatemiyoun Brigade, Pakistan’s Zainebiyoun Brigade, and factions linked to Iraq’s Popular Mobilisation Forces.
All of them collectively carried out a significant portion of the killings during the two-day crackdown, in which estimates of the death toll range from around 12,000 to as high as 20,000, though such figures remain impossible to independently verify due to Iran’s communications blackout.
The outlet had earlier reported that over 1.5 million people had gathered in Tehran during the protest rallies last week on January 8, where security forces – initially caught off guard – quickly resorted to mass mobilisation across the capital, and opened live fire on demonstrators in various parts of the city, with some sources noting on January 9, that security forces, mobilised on the roads took to gunning people as soon as they started assembling.
Hassan Hashemian, an expert on Arab affairs, told the publication that Iranian authorities turned to foreign forces due to manpower shortages.
“The Islamic Republic is facing a shortage of forces, and the scope of Iran’s national uprising was so wide that internal forces could not cover it,” he said, arguing that the protests overwhelmed Iran’s regular security apparatus.
Hashemian added that the scale and speed of the killings point to the use of battle-hardened units.
“The fact that between 12,000 and 20,000 people were killed within two days shows these groups were deployed specifically to kill,” he said. “They have prior experience from Iraq and Syria.”
Iranian authorities have not acknowledged the involvement of foreign forces and have repeatedly dismissed all reports of mass casualties as fabricated, and overblown “Western propaganda.”
The government has framed the protests as foreign-backed “riots” and defended its response as necessary to preserve order, though analysts have noted that the deployment of proxy militias, and special forces underscore both the extent of the frustration among masses in the country, and the leadership’s sheer determination to crush dissent, regardless of the cost.
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