A Massacre in Mashhad | The New Yorker
Some demonstrators, like M., managed to break the digital divide thanks to Starlink, Elon Musk’s satellite Internet service, banned in Iran. Security officers went door to door, searching homes to confiscate satellite dishes and arresting anyone using the service. Authorities have warned that citizens caught using Starlink could be sent to prison for up to two years. Iran’s attorney general said all “rioters” would be considered “enemies of God”, an accusation that could lead to their execution. “Let them find me,” M. told me. “I could have been killed a hundred times in the last few days. There are too many deaths. The world should know what happened here.”
Several months ago, M. sat in a prison cell as security forces searched his home after the government claimed he was a foreign spy. It was days after Israel began attacking Iran in June, and Iranian authorities had ordered a manhunt for suspected infiltrators. At least twenty-one thousand people were arrested, including M., who believes he was targeted for posting anti-government messages on social media. He was released, but the experience reinforced his rage against the regime. “They only know how to govern with fear,” he said.
His resentment pushed him onto the streets of Mashhad to join the protests, which reached a fever pitch days later after Reza Pahlavi, the U.S.-based son of the former Shah, released a video urging Iranians to join anti-government demonstrations in cities across the country on Thursday and Friday. They were further emboldened by President Donald Trump, who wrote on Truth Social that the United States would come to their “rescue” if the protesters were killed. “People lost their fear,” M. told me. “They all left their homes to fight for a new future – and they were massacred for it. »
M. and his friends provided me with videos that have been verified and support key elements of the story put forward by the witnesses. The clips have been edited to protect the identities of the people depicted. The interview with M. has been edited for length and clarity.
Part 1
I will do my best to tell you what happened. My wife gets scared every hour at night. She goes to check the windows to make sure no one is there. She doesn’t want me to talk to you, but they killed so many people, and I have to do this.
It all started because of crazy inflation. The craziest inflation of our lifetime. We first saw on the Internet that people in Tehran’s largest bazaar had started protesting. I saw Trump talking about Iran and he said that if the government shot the protesters, the United States would retaliate. We believed him. Trump is a man of his word. Additionally, online, everyone was sharing a video of Reza Pahlavi, the son of the last Shah of Iran, encouraging us to protest.
Suddenly everyone lost their fear. Before that day, no one had the courage to post Instagram Stories about the protests because they knew they would go to jail. But this time it felt like everyone was rooting for Pahlavi. They reposted his video, putting him in their stories. There was this feeling: “We’re going to make it this time.” » That’s what we felt that day. Everyone wrote on social networks: “Go to the street. Walking is not a crime.” Then many more people across the country began taking to the streets of every major city.
Part 2
I couldn’t believe what I saw on Thursday. It started out like a normal day. The government shuts down the Internet at 7 a.m. P..M., an hour before the start of Thursday’s protests. I decided to go out, but I didn’t bring my phone, because the government can track people.
