News

"I've lost my world and I've lost my religion" - the words of a former Iranian Basij militia member who says he witnessed killings and tried to stop rapes during the uprising that followed the disputed Presidential election in June.

After months of stories by witnesses and victims, we are now getting a picture of what went on by a man who claims he was part of the group ordered to carry out attacks.

Election orders
"In truth the orders didn't come after the election. The orders for all that you witnessed came before the election.

"We were prepared. But we didn't ever imagine that people’s actions would be so great. We had received orders regarding student activities.

"From three or four months before the election we had attended classes on ideological and political thought and crowd control.

"We knew what we had to do but nothing prepared us for what we saw. There were severe clashes in the first few days, and so new orders were given for forthcoming days."