A young Iranian who recently escaped into Turkey has delivered a stark warning to the world, saying the scale of violence carried out by Iran’s Islamic regime against its own people is far greater than many outside the country realize. In a raw video testimony, the refugee describes a relentless and indiscriminate crackdown on protesters, marked by live gunfire aimed directly at civilians.

“They’re shooting at people’s chests all the time,” he said, describing scenes of chaos, fear, and death. According to his account, security forces are using lethal force as a routine response to demonstrations, with little regard for age or innocence. He alleged that children have been killed, flights abruptly canceled, and cities plunged into panic as authorities attempt to seal off the country and suppress dissent.

The young man, now in Turkey, described the situation inside Iran as “hell,” recounting how protests were met with overwhelming force rather than dialogue. His testimony adds a personal and human dimension to growing reports of widespread violence that have been difficult to verify due to severe censorship and internet shutdowns imposed by the regime.

The unrest, which intensified in January 2026, was sparked by deep economic hardship and long-standing political repression. Activist groups estimate that more than 12,000 people may have been killed during the regime’s response — a figure that, if accurate, would far exceed the death toll of the 2022 Mahsa Amini protests and mark one of the deadliest internal crackdowns in the Islamic Republic’s history.

Human rights advocates argue that individual testimonies like this one are critical for understanding the true scope of the violence, as official channels inside Iran remain tightly controlled. Refugees and escapees have become some of the only voices able to speak freely about what they witnessed.

As international attention increasingly turns to Iran, accounts from those who have fled are amplifying calls for accountability and renewed pressure on Tehran. The young refugee’s message is clear: the world, he says, has not yet grasped how severe the killing has become — and silence, in his view, only enables it to continue.