Iran protests: Eyewitnesses recount brutal acts of violence as Indians return home in commercial flights

The ongoing crackdown in Iran on those protesting against the Islamic government in the country under Ayatollah Khamenei has led to the loss of thousands of lives while citizens of India and other countries who were present there have shared first-hand accounts of the violence they witnessed in the country.

A protestor, Kiarash, who spoke to news agency AFP recalled: "I heard this pop pop... and I saw with my eyes three people collapsed at the same time."

He also revealed that the number of people killed in the protests were in thousands.

People pushed into two warehouses stacked with black body bags, sometimes two or three on top of each other, he said. A mother on her own cried for help moving the body of her son.

There were "more than 1,500, up to 2,500 (dead) people in just one warehouse", said the former logistics company employee.

Iran Human Rights (IHR), which is based out of Norway, has said that 3,428 deaths of protestors have been verified, but warned that the actual death toll is likely several times higher.

As per the IHR, some other estimates are placing the death toll at around 5,000 to 20,000. Internet blackout in the country has hampered the verification process, IHR has revealed.

Another eyewitness told AFP, "It wasn't shotgun (fire), it was an assault rifle, automatic bursts of fire... every 10 minutes we heard a row of gunshots."

But "people were not scattering", he added. "They were just staying."

One Indian who arrived with a group of 12-13 told news agency PTI, "We didn't face any problem," adding, "We have returned from Tehran. Earlier, we were in Iraq, then we travelled to Iran. After an eight-day stay there, we have returned to India."

A young woman, who studies at a medical college in Shiraz, said, "The Internet was not working. So, we didn't exactly know what was happening around the country."

She also revealed that the situation in the city she was in was fine. However, she asserted that she and some others came back on their own and not with the assistance of the Indian government.

"We have come back on our own in a commercial flight, and not on the arrangement of the Indian government," she told PTI.

In a speech broadcast by Iranian state television, Khamenei acknowledged that the protests have left "several thousand" dead. “In this revolt, the US president made remarks in person, encouraged seditious people to go ahead and said: 'We do support you, we do support you militarily'," said Khamenei, adding, “We do consider the US president a criminal, because of casualties and damages, because of accusations against the Iranian nation."

Khamenei also labelled the protestors as the 'foot soldiers' of the US.