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As tear gas canisters landed among protesters filling a wide boulevard in western Iran, an Iranian beautician who was filming the confrontation on her phone ran for cover, the Associated Press reported. In videos the AP later received, gunfire then sounded, according to the AP account, and the woman and others in the crowd screamed for people not to be afraid while chanting against Iran’s cleric-led system.
The AP withheld the identities of the beautician and a relative for security reasons. The AP said it verified the location and authenticity of the woman’s videos, which aligned with known features around Samandehi Park in Karaj. While the AP said it could not verify all details in her account, it said her account broadly matched those documented by other protesters and rights groups.
After the bloodshed of Jan. 8 and the days that followed, the beautician told the AP she pulled back into terrified isolation. The AP reported that she moved in with her mother, stayed inside, and was anxious and unable to sleep, describing what she called a blanket of fear across Iran and a grief and anger that had taken over.
In late January messages, the beautician described what she said it felt like when she saw people in the street, telling a relative that it seemed like she was seeing “walking corpses” and people with no hope left. The AP said she sent the messages and footage to a relative in Los Angeles during sporadic openings in an internet shutdown, with the woman giving permission for the material to be shared.
The AP reported that the beautician also described anxiety about what would happen if security agents came to her building and said she and neighbors agreed not to let in anyone who rang the bells. She told her relative she took tranquilizers but did not “truly sleep,” and she described conversations with others who said they could not sleep at night because they feared being attacked, according to the AP.
The AP said the beautician struggled economically before the protests and decided to work for herself as a nail technician. The AP reported that her relative said her living situation left little room for plans such as having children and that repression and costs made it hard even to afford everyday items, including cooking oil.
According to the AP, the beautician joined protests after finding that she could hardly afford cooking oil and later described making the equivalent of only $40 in December, down from an already low range for the past year. The AP said she joined the mass protests on Jan. 8 after making plans with friends, despite having previously participated in the 2022 protests sparked by the death of Mahsa Amini and later being disillusioned by the violence that followed.
The AP reported that on Jan. 8 protesters took to the streets in at least 192 cities across Iran’s 31 provinces, citing the U.S.-based Human Rights Activists News Agency. In Karaj, the AP said her videos showed protesters filling a main boulevard and walking among trees, chanting slogans including “Death to the dictator!” and invoking Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei. The AP also said it was not clear from her videos how the violence began and that one video showed protesters cheering outside a police station while a fire burned inside.
The AP reported that, in a message, the beautician said police fired tear gas and shotgun pellets from inside the station and that live ammunition followed. She told the relative, according to the AP, that she saw nearly 20 people shot in her immediate circle, including parents of a family friend who were shot and killed while trying to help a wounded person, and that authorities later demanded payment to release a body, the AP said.
Rights groups told the AP that violence continued on Jan. 9 in Karaj, including with snipers on rooftops, and the beautician stepped out to film and then quickly returned, according to the AP account. The AP reported that she said she feared leaving her home after seeing scenes of people being killed, and she wrote that the anger and mourning had replaced the earlier sense of collective boldness, adding that she no longer even dared to shout for fear of her life.
The AP said monitoring groups reported that at least 6,854 people were killed, most on Jan. 8 and 9, and that the total could be triple that figure. The AP said the crackdown also included an internet blackout that lasted a month, limiting what could be confirmed, and that more than 50,000 people had been reported detained.
The AP said it received more than a dozen videos and texts that the beautician sent during the shutdown’s intermittent openings. The AP reported that her account reflected not only fear after the crackdown but also despair about the political landscape, including what she described as little hope in Iran-U.S. nuclear talks held Friday, where officials traded warnings of war, the AP said.