Nobel laureate Shirin Ebadi warns of possible 'massacre' in Iran during internet shutdown
The internet shutdown is "not a technical failure... it is a tactic," she says
Iranian Nobel peace prize winner Shirin Ebadi has warned that security forces in Iran could be preparing to commit a "massacre under the cover of a sweeping communications blackout" after imposing a nationwide internet shutdown, reports AFP.
The internet shutdown is "not a technical failure... it is a tactic", the veteran campaigner, who now lives in exile, said on her official Telegram account on Friday (9 January).
She added that she had received information hundreds of people had been taken to a Tehran hospital on Thursday with "severe eye injuries" caused by pellet gun fire.
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Meanwhile, violence linked to nationwide protests challenging Iran's theocratic rule has left at least 116 people dead, rights activists said, as demonstrations entered their third week amid an escalating government crackdown.
With internet access and phone lines largely cut, assessing the scale of unrest has become difficult. However, the US-based Human Rights Activists News Agency reported that more than 2,600 people have been detained, a figure the group says is based on verified sources and past tracking of unrest in Iran.
Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei said on Friday that the government will "not back down" in the face of the protests.
US President Donald Trump publicly voiced support for the protesters, while US officials warned Tehran against testing his resolve.
The protests began on 28 December, triggered by the collapse of the Iranian rial amid sanctions pressure, but quickly evolved into a broader challenge to Iran's political system.
