Five months have passed since the largest massacre of protesters in the contemporary history of Iran. While Iran spent the first half of 2026 under a total internet blackout, new names of those killed during the consecutive nights of January 8 and 9, alongside testimonies from that bloody January, continue to leak to the outside world.
This report is the story of Daniyal (Mohammad) Eivazi, a 26-year-old from Baghmalek who worked at a cafe-restaurant in Ahvaz. Following a raid by security forces to arrest him on January 3, he fled to Abadan. He took to the streets of Abadan on January 7, 8, and 9. On the night of January 9, amid a larger public turnout, harsher crackdowns, and the slaughter of citizens in the streets, 160 pellets lodged into his body, spanning from his head to his toes.
Daniyal’s bleeding was so severe that bystanders rushed him to a hospital. While medical staff were treating him, three vehicles packed with armed agents raided the hospital. He ultimately managed to escape with the help of a nurse, who he later heard was arrested and whose fate remains unknown to him.
Daniyal is now in another country. He says his only wish is to see Iran free one day: “I don’t want anything for myself. Just let the day come when I see Iran free.”
