Former Iranian prisoners reveal torture horrors as regime kills protesters on sight during crackdown
As protests spread across Iran and security forces intensify their crackdown, former political prisoners are warning that what is visible on the streets represents only a fraction of the violence unfolding behind prison walls.
In interviews with Fox News Digital, three former detainees described a system designed not just to punish dissent, but to break it through solitary confinement, beatings, medical neglect and threats of execution. Their accounts span nearly two decades, from the 2009 uprising to the “Woman, Life, Freedom” movement and the current wave of unrest, pointing to what they describe as a consistent and escalating pattern of abuse.
Maryam Shariatmadari, one of the faces of the “Girls of Revolution Street” protests against Iran’s mandatory hijab laws, was sentenced to one year in prison in March 2018 for what authorities described as “encouraging corruption by removing her hijab.”
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Speaking this week, Shariatmadari said the scale of the current protests has pushed the regime beyond its capacity to detain demonstrators.
“According to the testimonies of eyewitnesses, the suppressive forces of the Islamic Republic … are delivering ‘final shots’ to wounded protesters, killing them on the spot,” she said. “This has been unprecedented over the past 47 years and indicates that the number of detainees has become so large that the Islamic Republic no longer has the capacity to hold them and is killing them without any form of trial.”
She said that while detainees in earlier uprisings were transferred to prisons or unofficial “safe houses,” authorities expanded detention during the 2022 “Woman, Life, Freedom” protests to schools, ambulances and food transport vehicles.
“They used ambulances and food transport vehicles to detain protesters, something I believe to be unprecedented in human history,” Shariatmadari said.
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Inside detention facilities, she described systematic abuse.
“These include beatings, transfers to prisons without separation based on the type of offense, and the deliberate incitement of other inmates to harass and abuse us,” she said.
One of her most traumatic experiences occurred during interrogation.
“I was ordered to remove my clothes and remain completely naked for a body search while cameras were present,” Shariatmadari said. “I knew that men were watching me, and I could hear their voices.”
She also recalled being denied urgent medical care after an injury.
“Only after approximately 24 hours was I taken to a hospital to undergo surgery,” she said. “I believe this happened as a result of media pressure and public support.”
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Eight hours a day, blindfolded
Shariatmadari’s husband, Mehdi Ghadimi, a freelance journalist who worked with reformist newspapers Etemad and Shargh, was arrested in January 2023 during protests and taken to an undisclosed location. He spent nearly his entire detention in solitary confinement.
“I was interrogated twice daily, morning and afternoon, for eight hours with my eyes blindfolded,” Ghadimi said.
In the final days of his detention, he was transferred to a shared cell, where he encountered detainees from across Iranian society.
“I encountered students, workers, technical specialists and others who had been arrested during the Woman, Life, Freedom movement,” he said.
According to Ghadimi, detainees accused of supporting the Pahlavi dynasty were beaten more severely.
“Because their slogans and symbols supported the Pahlavi dynasty, they were beaten far more than the others,” he said.
Based on his experience, he warned that current detainees are likely to face even harsher treatment.
“I can only imagine that this time all detainees will face similarly brutal treatment,” Ghadimi said, adding that Iran’s judiciary chief has publicly signaled a hard line.
Ghadimi, who fled the country in 2024, also cited figures circulating among activists claiming well over the 2,600 reported, likely dwarfing that number. He said the number of detainees is likely far higher than the 10,000 reported.
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“On the other side of those bars is hell”
Shabnam Madadzadeh, who was imprisoned during the 2009 uprising, said watching the current protests has revived memories of extreme brutality and raised fears of mass executions.
“What immediately comes to my mind is the regime’s sheer brutality in torture and killing,” Madadzadeh said.
She said detention facilities were already overflowing during the 2009 protests.
“There was no space left for detainees. Even the solitary cells were overflowing with people,” she said.
Madadzadeh recalled interrogators accusing nearly everyone arrested of links to the Mujahedin-e Khalq and described torture and beatings “to the point of killing.”
One threat made to her during interrogation still haunts her.
“He told me: ‘If we are going to be overthrown, we will kill all of you. We will leave no one alive,’” she said.
She warned that the current internet blackout has heightened the danger for detainees.
“We truly do not know what level of brutality is currently taking place inside the prisons,” Madadzadeh said, adding that information reaching her suggests the regime is seeking to carry out executions quickly.
Citing Iran’s past, she warned of the risk of mass killings similar to the 1988 executions of political prisoners.
“Today, at a moment when the regime is on the brink of collapse, there is a real danger that such a massacre could be repeated,” she said.
Madadzadeh said young detainees are likely facing forced confessions, mock executions and threats of sexual violence.
“Whatever I do to you, no one will hear your voice,” an interrogator once told her, she recalled.
She also emphasized the suffering of families searching for loved ones.
“Families are moving between detention centers, prisons, morgues and cemeteries,” she said. “This uncertainty itself is the greatest form of torture.”
As the protests continue, all three former prisoners said the outside world must not look away.
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“The first thing I expect the free world to understand is the true voice of the people inside Iran,” Shariatmadari said. “The people of Iran are united in their demand for regime change and want to restore Iran to its former dignity, a dignity in which human rights and human worth were respected.”
Ghadimi echoed that warning.
“Without a doubt, when the regime displays such open violence in the streets, even worse atrocities occur behind prison walls,” he said. “I can only imagine that this time all detainees will face similarly brutal treatment.”
For Madadzadeh, the danger is immediate.
“The world must respond decisively to this brutality,” she said. “Every minute of delay costs lives.”
She called for concrete international action.
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“Force the regime to allow independent visits to prisons and to the secret detention centers run by the IRGC and the Ministry of Intelligence,” Madadzadeh said. “Lives depend on it.”
Together, their testimonies paint a stark picture of Iran’s prisons as the hidden front line of repression and a warning that what remains unseen may be even more deadly than what is already visible in the streets.
Jeb Bush heaps praise on Trump’s ‘unprecedented support’ for Iranians 10 years after heated primary
Former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush credited his former political foe President Donald Trump‘s “historic leadership” on pushing for a denuclearized and democratized Iran, saying that his current organization — United Against Nuclear Iran (UANI) – stands ready to help Trump and the people of Iran against Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.
With Trump’s emergence into presidential politics in 2015, he found his top rival in the former Florida governor, notably dubbing him “Low Energy Jeb” — as the Republican scion hit back that the mogul could not “insult his way to the presidency.”
This week, détente appeared to emerge between the two as Bush heaped praise on Trump’s position after the president urged Iranian “patriots [to] keep protesting.”
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“Take over your institutions. Save the names of the killers and abusers. They will pay a big price,” Trump wrote on Truth Social on Tuesday.
“President Trump continues to demonstrate historic leadership on Iran, with unprecedented support for the Iranian people as they face bullets for freedom. We at UANI join him in standing with the brave people of Iran.”
Bush leads UANI alongside former Ambassador Mark Wallace, the ex-husband of MS-NOW host Nicolle Wallace and a key diplomat in Bush’s brother’s White House.
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“UANI applauds President Trump’s unprecedented support of the people of Iran as they fight to reclaim their country,” Bush and Wallace said in a statement.
“For far too long, the United States and the West have equivocated in expressing support for the people of Iran in the face of the Ayatollah’s violence and repression.”
“President Trump’s post made clear that no longer will the United States and the West lack the moral clarity to support the people of Iran as they face bullets for freedom. That change is historic.”
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Trump has been praised for taking a harder line than recent presidents against Iran, cancelling talks with Tehran leaders after reports surfaced that they were shooting and killing protesters in the streets.
“UANI joins with President Trump and stands with the brave people of Iran in their struggle against the Ayatollah,” Bush and Wallace added.
Their group is a nonprofit, nonpartisan one, formed to combat threats posed by Iran.
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The tenor between the two Republican stalwarts is a marked change from the turbulent 2016 sweeps.
At the time, Trump often mocked Bush for his family’s involvement in the race, reportedly saying, “Your mom can’t help you with ISIS” after former first lady Barbara Bush cut a campaign ad for her son.
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“Donald is great at the one-liners,” Bush quipped during a 2015 debate. “But he’s a chaos candidate.”
Fox News Digital reached out to the White House for comment on the two leaders’ new common ground.
On Iran, a senior administration official said the administration supports the people of Iran against the regime’s continued human rights abuses and authoritarian repression, and that the regime is one of the world’s worst violators of human rights; oppressing its people to maintain its grip on power.
Khamenei calls Trump a ‘criminal,’ blames him for deadly protests sweeping Iran
Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei on Saturday lashed out at President Donald Trump, labeling him a “criminal” and accusing the U.S. of orchestrating unrest that has erupted into the deadliest protests in decades.
“The latest anti-Iran sedition was different in that the U.S. President personally became involved,” Iranian media quoted Khamenei as saying, per Reuters.
The statement is the latest Iranian government rhetoric blaming the U.S. for contributing to instability in Iran, with Tehran singling out Trump as a central figure in what it calls foreign-driven unrest. The regime has also been pointing fingers at Israel.
Protests have raged in Iran since late December, initially over economic problems but rapidly expanding into widespread anti-regime demonstrations. Demonstrators have been met with severe crackdowns by security forces.
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Human rights groups say thousands of protesters have been killed in the unrest. Reports from various groups say Khamenei was responsible for a crackdown that killed thousands of protesters. The U.S.-based Human Rights Activists in Iran on Friday put the death toll at 3,090.
The number, which exceeds that of any other round of protest or unrest in Iran in decades and recalls the chaos surrounding the 1979 revolution, continues to rise.
Meanwhile, Iranian opposition figure Reza Pahlavi told Bret Baier on “Special Report” on Monday that a minimum of 12,000 people were dead.
Trump has expressed support for Iranian protesters and talked about regime change, while some Republican lawmakers have openly urged Trump to consider military action.
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The president said on Tuesday that he had cut off meetings with the Iranian regime, saying there would be no contact until the government stops killing protesters. He also urged the Iranian people to “take over” the country.
When asked if Arab and Israeli officials “convinced” him to not strike Iran, Trump told reporters Friday that he convinced himself and cited the canceled hangings.
Trump also expressed similar sentiments on social media Friday.
“I greatly respect the fact that all scheduled hangings, which were to take place yesterday (Over 800 of them), have been canceled by the leadership of Iran. Thank you!” Trump said in a post on Truth Social on Friday.
It is unclear whom Trump spoke to in Iran to confirm the state of any planned executions. The statement echoes what White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt told reporters Thursday about the canceled executions. She maintained that all options remained on the table when it comes to dealing with Iran.
“What I will say with respect to Iran is that the president and his team have communicated to the Iranian regime that if the killing continues, there will be grave consequences,” Leavitt told reporters Thursday. “And the president received a message as he revealed to all of you and the whole world yesterday that the killing and the executions will stop. And the president understands today that 800 executions that were scheduled and supposed to take place yesterday were halted.”
It’s unclear from Trump’s post if he was referring to the 800 executions that were already canceled or whether there have been two consecutive days when 800 executions have been called off.
Meanwhile, a sermon by Ayatollah Ahmad Khatami carried by Iranian state radio sparked chants from those gathered for prayers, including: “Armed hypocrites should be put to death!”
Khatami, a member of Iran’s Assembly of Experts and Guardian Council long known for his hardline views, described the protesters as the “butlers” of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and “Trump’s soldiers,” according to The Associated Press.
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He said Netanyahu and Trump should await “hard revenge from the system.”
“Americans and Zionists should not expect peace,” the cleric said.
Georgian demonstrators watch Iran closely as their own protests grind on
While thousands of Iranians take to the streets daily demanding the downfall of the Islamic Republic, people in the small European country of Georgia, along Russia’s southern border, have been protesting at various levels of intensity for over a year following disputed parliamentary elections in 2024.
Everyday Georgians who are still braving freezing temperatures and allegations of violence by the authorities are looking at their peers fighting for democracy in Iran and seeing their own struggle playing out against a corrupt and unpopular regime.
“When you walk through the demonstrations every day in Tbilisi, all people talk about is Iran. The heated debate over it shows how much it matters and how optimism is out on the streets due to developments despite controversies,” Tinatin Khidasheli, former defense minister of Georgia, told Fox News Digital.
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“Developments in Iran resonate in a very human way: if people can challenge a far more despotic and violent regime, it reinforces the belief that resistance in Georgia is not futile,” Khidasheli added.
Mass protests began shortly after the pro-Russia Georgian Dream party claimed victory in elections in October 2024 and halted Georgia’s efforts to join the European Union.
Georgians have long desired to move closer to the West and join the European Union, with opinion polls showing overwhelming support for joining the bloc. Georgian Prime Minister Irakli Kobakhidze halted Tbilisi’s accession path to join the EU shortly after taking power, sparking anger from many.
Tbilisi’s main Rustaveli Avenue has been crowded with protesters chanting and blocking traffic, outraged at the ruling party pulling Georgia away from Europe and closer to a Russian-oriented foreign policy.
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Erekle Koplatadze, a 33-year-old from Tbilisi, has been participating in protests almost daily since November 2024. Koplatadze, who was detained for six days for allegedly blocking a road while protesting in November 2025, told Fox News Digital that there has been a feeling of solidarity with the protests in Iran since people rose up in December against economic mismanagement and regime corruption.
“You will see many Lion and Sun flags (Iran’s national flag until the 1979 Islamic Revolution) in front of Georgia’s Parliament. And there have been protests in front of the Iranian Embassy in Tbilisi,” Koplatadze said.
Koplatadze said the news coming out of Iran and the regime’s brutal violence employed against innocent people has shaken many Georgians in the crowd and a shared sense of empathy has emerged.
“I don’t remember such a big protest in Tbilisi in support of a foreign nation except for Ukraine,” he said.
Ana Riaboshenko, co-founder of the “Initiative Culture For Democracy” who attends protests on a regular basis, told Fox News Digital that developments in Iran directly affect Georgia, as well as all the countries in the region.
“Its transformation from a terrorist state to a democratic government will significantly change the situation and indeed contribute substantially to the global power balance and economy. A particularly positive outcome is expected with the collapse of the Russian-Iranian partnership.”
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Riaboshenko pointed out that Russian-backed Georgian Dream representatives positioned themselves as partners with Tehran and bilateral relations and cooperation have increased since the rigged elections of 2024.
Civic IDEA, a Georgian NGO, issued a report in July 2025 detailing how Iranian businessmen and companies use Georgia as a strategic transit point to evade international sanctions and channel funds back to Iran.
Nearly 13,000 Iranian companies are registered in Georgia, according to the Civic IDEA report.
Marika Mikiashvili, Foreign Secretary of party Droa, part of the largest democratic alliance in Georgia, spoke to Fox News Digital and said while Georgians are in awe and very inspired by the bravery of Iranians, their struggle is a warning sign as much as it is profoundly inspiring.
“Many protesters see Iran as a cautionary tale of what happens when a consolidating dictatorship isn’t defeated soon enough,” Mikiashvili warned.
There have also been no statements of support for the pro-democracy protests from the Georgian Dream government or condemnation of security force human rights violations against innocent people.
As the Georgian Dream government entrenched itself in power, it implemented harsh anti-demonstration laws to crack down on dissent and used disproportionate force and other brutal tactics to squash the unrest.
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Human Rights Watch documented numerous laws that interfered with Georgians’ rights to peacefully assemble, including steep fines for protest-related violations and abusive police tactics as thousands of people have been arbitrarily detained.
Since Georgian Dream’s election, 600 people have been arbitrarily detained, 300 protesters were tortured or subjected to inhumane treatment, 1,000 citizens received fines for political opinions, and 400 journalists have been arrested, beaten, and harassed, according to Transparency International Georgia, a non-governmental organization with the goal of combating corruption in Georgia.
Madonna declares ‘I stand with Iran’ as protesters face brutal regime crackdown
Pop singer Madonna posted on Instagram Friday that she stands with Iran as the Iranian people protest Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.
“I cannot think of a more relevant phrase than this as we enter the year of the Fire Horse! As I reflect on my time in Morocco over the holidays I think of all the people in Iran who are fighting a much needed revolution and willing to die for what they believe in,” the 67-year-old singer shared in an Instagram post.
Madonna’s comments came amid rising tensions between the United States and Iran, and as the Iranian people rise up against Khamenei’s brutal regime.
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The protests stemmed from the cloistered Middle Eastern country’s economic crisis, which has become increasingly dire as the value of the Rial, Iran’s currency, has plummeted.
The regime has cracked down hard on the protesters, with state-sanctioned killings estimated to be in the thousands. The U.S.-based Human Rights Activists News Agency announced that 1,847 of the dead were protesters and 135 were members of Iran’s security forces. Other reports say the death toll is more than 3,000 people, Fox News Digital previously reported.
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Meanwhile, the Trump administration has been weighing military action to stop the slaughter of civilians. Iranian state television aired a vile threat against President Donald Trump earlier this week, referencing the 47th president’s near assassination while on the campaign trail in Butler, Pennsylvania, in 2024.
As for whether military action is imminent, Trump remained noncommittal, reiterating that he is monitoring the situation.
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Madonna explained further that she often takes her freedom for granted.
“We take so much for granted. Myself included. The freedom to travel the world. To wear what I want to wear. To ride a horse across the desert. To speak freely and not be silenced by punishment, torture, and possibly death. To sing. To dance. To choose my spiritual path, not someone else’s. The women of Iran do not have this freedom. I stand with them. The people of Iran have not known freedom for centuries. I cannot claim to truly know the suffering that has been endured, but my thoughts and prayers are with the people of Iran.”
“The time is now. Hold Tight! I stand with Iran. Let their voices be heard,” she concluded.
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Trump credits halted Iran executions for delaying military strikes
President Donald Trump signaled why he’s held off on military strikes on Iran amid nationwide protests after claiming the country had canceled executions for hundreds of Iranians.
When asked if Arab and Israeli officials “convinced” him to not strike Iran, Trump told reporters Friday he convinced himself and cited the canceled hangings. Trump also expressed similar sentiments on social media Friday.
“I greatly respect the fact that all scheduled hangings, which were to take place yesterday (Over 800 of them), have been cancelled by the leadership of Iran. Thank you!” Trump said in a post on Truth Social Friday.
The statement echoes what White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt told reporters Thursday about the canceled executions. She maintained that all options remained on the table when it comes to dealing with Iran.
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“What I will say with respect to Iran is that the president and his team have communicated to the Iranian regime that if the killing continues, there will be grave consequences,” Leavitt told reporters Thursday.
“And the president received a message as he revealed to all of you and the whole world yesterday that the killing and the executions will stop. And the president understands today that 800 executions that were scheduled and supposed to take place yesterday were halted.”
It’s unclear from Trump’s post if he was referring to the 800 executions that were already canceled or whether there have been two consecutive days when 800 executions have been called off.
The White House did not immediately respond to a request for comment from Fox News Digital on how many executions have been canceled or whether military strikes are completely off the table now.
Fox News Digital reached out to a spokesperson for the Islamic Republic of Iran’s permanent mission to the United Nations for additional comment but did not immediately receive a reply.
Protests broke out across Iran in December 2025 in response to the country’s economic hardships as well as a referendum against Iran’s theocratic regime.
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More than 2,000 people — including at least nine children — have died in the recent protests, the U.S.-based Human Rights Activists News Agency reported Tuesday.