by Jake Wallis Simons, Telegraph
Tehran’s violent crackdown on protesters is a massacre comparable with the 1941 ‘holocaust of bullets’
Nobody knows how many innocent people have been massacred in Iran. And when it comes to the war between Israel and Hamas, the casualty data is hotly contested. It seems likely, however, that the Islamic regime has already killed more innocents than lost their lives in Gaza, or at the very least is poised to overtake that number.
Not that the two are comparable. The Palestinian casualties were the tragic and undesired result of urban warfare against an enemy that both provoked the fight and saw every death as a propaganda victory. Evacuation notices were issued, aid was provided and missions were aborted to protect civilian life. The Iranian regime, by contrast, is wantonly butchering great numbers of unarmed citizens who only want to be free.
The victims are particularly fresh in my mind, as this week, Andrew Fox, the former parachute regiment officer, and I interviewed two Iranian activists for our podcast, The Brink. These were people who had received credible reports from the inside, and their stories were harrowing.
Dead women having their uteruses removed before their bodies were returned to their families – for a hefty release fee – to hide evidence of sexual torture. Prisoners being injected with mercury or potassium to cause them to perish slowly and in great pain. Toddlers and the elderly shot dead. Summary executions of the wounded in their hospital beds.