Hamid Koohsari, a 31-year-old Iranian protester who says that during the protests of Dey 1404 in Gorgan he was shot in the leg by security forces, told Iran International that security forces opened direct fire on protesters, resulting in the deaths and injuries of citizens, and that he spent eight months living in hiding before leaving Iran.

Koohsari said that on 18 Dey, when protests had spread in Gorgan, the capital of Golestan province, security forces opened fire directly on the crowd.

He said he had also taken part in the protests of Aban 1398 and the protests of 1401 following the death of Mahsa Jina Amini, adding that the violence he witnessed in Dey could not be compared with his previous experiences.

He said: “You couldn’t believe what you were seeing. They aimed their guns directly at the crowd and shot. People were falling to the ground like sparrows.”

According to Koohsari, security forces were firing at protesters with weapons of the Kalashnikov type and shotguns, and some people were positioned in elevated areas.

Read the full report on the Iran International website.