Art student Arash was walking home through the streets of Tehran when a shotgun blast ended his life. He had not shouted slogans, joined protesters, or raised a fist.

A friend, speaking by telephone from the Iranian capital, described the moment in a voice cracking with grief: Arash fell instantly, lifeless on the pavement. He was 22.

The friend, who spoke on condition of anonymity due to fear for his security, said they had paused on the sidewalk to watch a protest in nearby Vanak Square when security forces in black uniforms arrived and began firing randomly toward the demonstrators.

Arash’s death on Jan. 8 is an example of what witnesses say has been a reality of the country’s latest anti-government protests — bystanders uninvolved in the unrest caught in gunfire, or killed as they tried to flee the chaos.

Reuters was unable to independently verify this account or similar witness reports of deaths during the state’s crackdown on the unrest, and could not determine how many of the thousands killed were bystanders or people merely near the protests when they were shot.

But accounts from families and witnesses suggest that indiscriminate force used by security forces to crush the unrest killed many civilians who were not participating, leaving relatives to scour hospitals, morgues, and detention centers for answers.

UNLAWFUL LETHAL FORCE USED IN IRAN, AMNESTY REPORTS

Officials in Iran could not be reached for comment about the deaths described in this story as authorities began blocking telephone lines and internet connections from Jan. 8, when protests spread nationwide. From Jan. 13, Iranians have been able to make outgoing international phone calls, while calls into the country remain blocked.

There was no immediate response to requests for comment sent to the Iranian UN missions in Geneva and New York.

Authorities have blamed the unrest and deaths on “terrorists and rioters” backed by exiled opponents and foreign adversaries, the United States and Israel. State TV aired footage of burned police and government buildings, mosques and smashed banks it said had been attacked by “terrorists and rioters.”

The US-based HRANA rights group said it has so far verified 4,519 unrest-linked deaths, including 4,251 protesters, 197 security personnel, 35 people aged under 18 and 38 bystanders who it says were neither protesters nor security personnel.

HRANA has 9,049 additional deaths under review. An Iranian official told Reuters the confirmed death toll until Sunday was more than 5,000, including 500 members of the security forces.

The protests began on Dec. 28 as modest demonstrations in Tehran’s Grand Bazaar over economic hardship and quickly spread nationwide.

INDISCRIMINATE FIRE REPORTED BY WITNESSES

Within days crowds in cities and towns were calling for an end to clerical rule, and state TV showed footage of what it called “rioters” burning images of Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.

Amnesty International said in a report it had documented security forces positioned on streets, rooftops — including those of residential buildings, mosques, and police stations — repeatedly firing rifles and shotguns loaded with metal pellets, often aiming at unarmed individuals’ heads and torsos.

It said the evidence points to a coordinated nationwide escalation in the security forces’ unlawful use of lethal force against mostly peaceful protesters and bystanders since the evening of Jan. 8.

The unrest has posed one of the gravest threats to Iran’s clerical establishment in years, with US President Donald Trump repeatedly threatening to intervene if protesters continued to be killed on the streets or were executed.

Iran‘s judiciary has indicated that execution of those detained during protests may go ahead.

Numerous accounts from inside Iran, including from people who have since left the country, said security forces fired live ammunition indiscriminately, turning streets — particularly on Ja. 8 and 9 — into what witnesses likened to war zones.

Among the victims was Fariba, a 16-year-old girl described by her mother, Manijeh, as curious and full of life.

On a night when she went with her mother to a nearby square simply to observe, security forces on motorcycles attacked the protesters.

‘THEY KILLED MY CHILD,’ SAYS MOTHER OF 16-YEAR-OLD

Manijeh clutched her daughter’s hand and sought shelter behind a parked car amid the gunfire. In the ensuing panic, she lost her grip and mother and daughter became separated.

“I searched street after street, screaming her name,” Manijeh recounted, sobbing over the phone. “She was gone.”

That night, the family scoured police stations and hospitals. They found Fariba two days later in a black body bag inside the Kahrizak Forensic Medical Center in south Tehran, shot in the heart, her body cold.

Officials told the family that “terrorists” had killed her.

“No,” her mother said. “I was there that night. The security forces opened fire on people. They killed my child.”

Videos on social media showed footage of families searching for their relatives among hundreds of body bags in morgues and the Kahrizak Center. Reuters verified the location of the videos as Kahrizak Center, although the identity of the people and the date when the videos were filmed could not be verified.

A physician who left Iran on Jan. 14 said hospitals were overwhelmed with gunshot victims. In Karaj, west of Tehran, a resident described security forces deploying automatic rifles against protesters and bystanders on Jan. 8.

Similar accounts emerged from the western city of Kermanshah, where Revolutionary Guards used armored vehicles and tanks to contain demonstrations.

‘THEY SMASHED DOORS, CURSING,’ SAYS BROTHER OF MISSING WOMAN

In Isfahan, the brother of a 43-year-old man recounted holding his sibling’s blood-soaked body after security forces shot him. “His only act was sheltering teenage protesters fleeing into his shop,” said Masoud, 38, by telephone.

Like other Iranians interviewed for this story, Masoud asked for his full name to be withheld for fear of reprisals.

In another case, the family of Nastaran, a 28-year-old elementary school teacher in Tehran, spent days searching for her after she visited a cousin on Jan. 9 and never returned.

They found her body in a warehouse near Tehran. She had been shot by security forces, said Nastaran’s father.

Authorities allowed retrieval only on condition of burial in the family’s hometown in central Iran and pressured them to blame “terrorists” — a claim the relatives rejected, he said.

Another family in the northern city of Rasht said security forces stormed their apartment after spotting their 33-year-old daughter, Sepideh, watching protests from a window.

“They smashed doors, cursing and yelling. They detained her. We don’t know where she is,” said Morteza, her brother.

“My sister’s two young children cry for her; her husband has been warned of arrest if he keeps searching for her.”

US President Donald Trump on Wednesday warned Hamas will be “blown away” if the Palestinian terrorist group doesn’t agree to disarm in accordance with his 20-point peace plan to end the war in Gaza.

It should be clear within three weeks whether Hamas will agree to give up its weapons, Trump added.

“That’s what they agreed to. They’ve got to do it. And we’re going to know … over the next two or three days — certainly over the next three weeks — whether or not they’re going to do it,” he said in a question-and-answer session following his speech at the World Economic Forum in Davos.

“If they don’t do it, they’ll be blown away very quickly. They’ll be blown away, Trump added.

His comments came one week after US special envoy Steve Witkoff announced the launch of phase two of Trump’s plan to end the conflict in Gaza, describing the process as “moving from ceasefire to demilitarization, technocratic governance, and reconstruction.”

Witkoff also warned Hamas, the Palestinian terrorist group that ruled Gaza before the war and still controls nearly half the enclave’s territory, to remain committed to the terms of the agreement.

“Phase Two establishes a transitional technocratic Palestinian administration in Gaza, the National Committee for the Administration of Gaza (NCAG), and begins the full demilitarization and reconstruction of Gaza, primarily the disarmament of all unauthorized personnel,” Witkoff posted on social media. “The US expects Hamas to comply fully with its obligations, including the immediate return of the final deceased hostage. Failure to do so will bring serious consequences.”

Under phase one of Trump’s peace plan, a ceasefire took effect and Hamas was required to release all remaining hostages, both living and deceased, who were kidnapped by Hamas-led Palestinian terrorists during the group’s invasion of and massacre across southern Israel on Oct. 7, 2023.

Everyone was released except for Master Sgt. Ran Gvili, the last remaining slain hostage in Gaza. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu reportedly spoke last week with Gvili’s parents, who have adamantly opposed moving to the second phase of Trump’s plan until their son’s body is returned.

Gvili’s return “is at the top of Israel’s priorities,” Netanyahu’s office said in a statement, according to the Times of Israel. “Hamas is required to comply with the terms of the agreement and make a 100% effort to return all fallen hostages, until the very last one — Ran Gvili, a hero of Israel.”

In exchange for Hamas’s releasing nearly all the hostages, Israel freed thousands of Palestinian prisoners, including many serving life sentences for terrorism, and partially withdrew its military forces in Gaza to a newly drawn “Yellow Line,” roughly dividing the enclave between east and west.

Currently, the Israeli military controls 58 percent of Gaza’s territory, and Hamas has moved to reestablish control over the rest of the enclave. However, most of the Gazan population is located in the Hamas-controlled portion, where the Islamist group has been imposing a brutal crackdown.

The second stage of the US-backed peace plan is supposed to establish an interim administrative authority, a so-called “technocratic government,” deploy an International Stabilization Force (ISF) to oversee security in Gaza, and begin the demilitarization of Hamas.

However, Hamas has repeatedly refused to disarm, despite the plan’s call for the terrorist group to do so and relinquish any governing role in Gaza. Further Israeli military withdrawals are tied to Hamas’s disarmament.

Still, the peace plan is moving forward with a transitional technocratic Palestinian administration in Gaza. The newly established 15-member body is led by Ali Shaath, a former deputy minister in the Palestinian Authority.

The Palestinian technocratic body will be overseen by an international Board of Peace to govern Gaza for a transitional period. Nickolay Mladenov, a former UN Middle East envoy, will represent the board on the ground. Other members tapped by Mladenov include people from the private sector and NGOs.

It’s unclear how many total members will be on the Board of Peace. Trump has invited dozens of world leaders to join the US-led initiative, which he would chair and would initially seek to end the conflict in Gaza but then tackle wars elsewhere.

Since the start of the Israel-Hamas ceasefire in October, both sides have repeatedly accused each other of violations. Israel has carried out several operations targeting terrorist operatives as the Palestinian group ramps up efforts to reassert control over the war-torn enclave.

Efforts to advance the ceasefire deal have stalled, with no agreement on crucial next steps, including the start of reconstruction in the enclave and the deployment of the ISF.

The international force is supposed to oversee the Gaza ceasefire between Israel and Hamas, train local security forces, secure Gaza’s borders with Israel and Egypt, and protect civilians while maintaining humanitarian corridors.

Turkey, a longtime backer of Hamas, has been trying to expand its role in Gaza’s post-war reconstruction efforts, which experts warn could potentially strengthen Hamas’s terrorist infrastructure.

While Turkey insists on participating in the ISF, Israeli officials have repeatedly rejected any Turkish involvement in post-war Gaza.

Turkey will have a representative on the Board of Peace.

The US military said on Wednesday that its forces have transferred 150 Islamic State detainees from Syria to Iraq.

The move comes after the rapid collapse of the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces in northeast Syria triggered uncertainty over the security of around a dozen prisons and detention camps they had been guarding.

In a statement, the US military said the United States was able to transport 150 Islamic State fighters held at a detention facility in Hasakah, Syria, to a secure location in Iraq.

Ultimately, up to 7,000 ISIS detainees could be transferred from Syria to Iraqi-controlled facilities, the statement added.

“We are closely coordinating with regional partners, including the Iraqi government, and we sincerely appreciate their role in ensuring the enduring defeat of ISIS,” said US Admiral Brad Cooper, the head of US forces in the Middle East.

Syria on Tuesday announced a ceasefire with Kurdish forces from which it has seized swathes of territory in the northeast and gave them four days to agree on integrating into the central state, which their main ally, the United States, urged them to accept.

The lightning government advances in recent days and the apparent withdrawal of US support for SDF’s continued holding of territory represent the biggest change of control in the country since rebels ousted Bashar al-Assad 13 months ago.