Tehran, Jan. 16 -- As Iran battles a near-total communications blackout and one of the harshest waves of state crackdowns since the 1979 Islamic revolution, three people living in different cities have given accounts of the sheer brutality of the repression by security personnel that has left cities shocked, bloody, grieving, and engulfed in fear.
Three political activists - two based in Tehran and one in Isfahan - shared voice messages recorded between January 13 and 15 via encrypted applications with Iran International, telling their stories.
A journalist, a business owner and an engineer, all veterans of earlier protest waves, said the demonstrations that peaked on the night of January 8, far exceeded anything they had previously seen....