Serious allegations from Iran reveal a grim aspect of the crackdown on recent protests. According to BBC Persian, citing multiple independent sources, families of victims claim that authorities are demanding large sums of money in exchange for returning the bodies of deceased protesters for burial.
Testimonies indicate that bodies are being held in hospitals and morgues, with security forces allegedly refusing to release them unless payments are made, placing families under extreme pressure and fear. Protests have continued for more than two weeks and spread to dozens of cities, while human rights groups report at least 2,435 people killed since the unrest began.
In one case in Rasht, a family was reportedly asked to pay 700 million tomans to retrieve a body, while in Tehran another family was told to pay up to one billion tomans—an impossible amount given that many workers earn less than $100 per month.
Reports also suggest that some hospital staff secretly warned families to collect bodies before security forces arrived, while others broke into morgues fearing unauthorized burials. The true situation remains unclear due to internet shutdowns and severe restrictions on information, as arrests of activists, lawyers, and ordinary citizens continue nationwide.
