Iran has begun shooting at citizens protesting the regime as demonstrations continue after the downing of a commercial airliner.
Video shows Iranian forces using tear gas on the protesters and a woman with what appears to be a gunshot wound to the leg, leaving behind a trail of blood as she was moved.
“Oh my God, she’s bleeding nonstop!” one person shouted, according to CNBC.
“Bandage it!” another calls out.
Tehran’s head of police, Gen. Hossein Rahimi, denied that his officers fired at the demonstrators but conceded that tear gas was used against them.
“Police treated people who had gathered with patience and tolerance,” Rahimi said. “Police did not shoot in the gatherings since broad-mindedness and restraint has been the agenda of the police forces of the capital.”
Despite the claim, police are just one branch of Iranian forces that are working to squelch demonstrators. Members of Iran’s Revolutionary Guard Corps were also seen patrolling the area of the protests.
Some of those calling for Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei’s resignation chanted phrases such as “death to the dictator,” “students are awake,” and “Khamenei is a murderer.”
Maryam Rajavi, the president-elect of the National Council of Resistance of Iran and co-leader of the People’s Mujahedin of Iran, praised the demonstrations, which have spread from Tehran to other cities.
“Time has come for the international community to acknowledge the reality that the religious fascism ruling Iran does not represent the Iranian people and recognize the national call for the overthrow of the mullahs,” Rajavi said in a statement provided to the Washington Examiner.
Protests began on Saturday in Tehran and came a day after Iran said it “unintentionally” shot down a Ukrainian jet, killing all 176 people on board.
The victims of Wednesday’s crash included 82 Iranians, 63 Canadians, 11 Ukrainians, 10 Swedes, four Afghans, three Germans, and three British nationals.
Iran initially said the crash was a mechanical error, but intelligence shows that Iranian anti-aircraft missiles took down the plane. Footage was also released showing the moment that the jet was shot down.
The plane was shot down just hours after Iran fired more than a dozen short-range ballistic missiles at bases in Iraq housing American troops. The early-morning attack was a direct retaliation for the U.S. operation that ended in the death of Iranian Gen. Qassem Soleimani, the longtime head of the Quds Force and a man responsible for the deaths of hundreds of American troops.
