Recently, for six full hours, I was mesmerized by “This Is Our Story: Voices From Iran’s January Protests,” a deeply moving documentary based on powerful, first-person videos taken in real time inside Iran from Dec. 28, 2025, to mid-January of this year.
During that time, anti-government demonstrations rocked the Islamic Republic. Protests against the ruling Islamic regime erupted in all 31 provinces and more than 200 cities. It is estimated that more than 1.5 million people demonstrated in Tehran and more than 5 million throughout the country. To put down the protests, from Jan. 8-9, Iran’s mullahs murdered tens of thousands of peaceful protesters in cold blood.
Compiled from real-time amateur videos shot by local Iranians, the film captures a dark chapter of recent history largely overlooked in the West, even though it occurred only nine months ago.
With the approach of the third anniversary of the Oct. 7 Hamas-led terrorist attacks on southern Israel, I think it is important to bear witness to another instance of savage Islamic murders of unarmed civilians.
“This Is Our Story was released on Sept. 26. The four episodes are available for free, streaming on the Manoto YouTube channel. Manoto is an international Persian-language general entertainment channel founded in 2010 by a London-based Iranian couple. The film is in Persian with English subtitles.
Unlike the anti-Israel documentary “NAZA,” which was produced in secret and relies on anonymous sources, “This Is Our Story” features participants in the Iranian uprising alongside full documentation of the Islamic regime’s atrocities.
At its most gripping, “This Is Our Story” shows the terrible emotional toll taken on Iranian families by the massacres. Thousands of body bags were placed in local morgues, and families had to painstakingly open each bag to find a husband, wife or child.
Of course, the Western press hasn’t come even close to reporting fully on the revelations in this documentary. The story has simply disappeared.
The most powerful moments in the film show the horrific reality of the Islamic regime’s slaughter of its own people. On Jan. 8, Iranian citizens answered a call from the late Shah’s eldest son, Reza Pahlavi, urging widespread demonstrations against the mullahs.
That night, millions poured onto the streets of Iran. “Look at the crowd,” a demonstrator says. “They keep pouring into the streets.”
The film then captures the nightmare about to unfold. In Tehran, government forces begin to use live ammunition. “They’re firing everywhere. There’s blood everywhere,” one protester screams.
In Haft Hoz Square, protesters fall to the ground. “This is the blood of our people,” a young man screams. “Haft Hoz has turned into a battlefield,” another man yells.
Various videos capture what follows. “In Isfahan, they’re using heavy machine guns against the people,” a protester shouts. In Mashhad, another says, “It’s a war zone.”
By launching its reign of terror, the Islamic regime may have planted the seeds of its own demise.
In Saveh, security forces fire point-blank at the protesters. In Aryashahr District, screams are heard from a woman as the gunfire erupts. “They keep firing and killing people,” a man is heard to say.
Blood can be seen everywhere—on roads, sidewalks, doors and walls. The cities resemble war zones. Fires are burning. There are hulks of burned-out cars and buses, bodies and debris in the streets.
In Najaf Abad, a student says, “They’re loading the bodies of those they have killed onto a pickup truck.” He implores, “Film this, film this.”
The hospitals and, eventually, the mortuaries fill up with the wounded and dead. Patients lie on the floor because there aren’t enough beds. Alongside them are bodies, which are also strewn across the parking lot outside. The enormity of the slaughter is clear to everyone. Wails and screams fill the air.
On the morning of Jan. 9, the authorities are nowhere to be seen. Despite the slaughter the night before, protesters decide to return to the streets. This time the crowds are much bigger. The anger is rising. “Khamenei, you tyrant! We’ll send you to your grave,” a woman shouts from a window. “This is your blood.”
Neighborhoods throughout Iran fill with defiant demonstrators. “Until the mullahs are buried, we will not be free,” they chant in Isfahan. But as the night progresses, the regime’s troops go on the attack again.
Videos show carnage in Ahvaz, Andarzgood, Gohardasht, Mashhad, Ponak, and, of course, the capital of Tehran. Troops mow down demonstrators. In Isfahan, a protester says, “It’s a full-scale war.”
On Jan. 10 and over the days that follow, tens of thousands of bodies arrive at hospitals and morgues. Families are devastated; many are hysterical. It’s sheer pandemonium. There is deep, collective pain.
Across Iran, funerals become spaces for anger and calls for resistance. As seen in numerous videos, eulogies offer a rare opportunity to safely express outrage against the government. With Iranian troops absent, thousands go to cemeteries to voice their collective rage and pain.
The video makes clear that the anger of the people against the Islamic regime is very deep. The mass killings touch a raw nerve. There are feelings of distrust and profound hate for the regime.
Sadly, the West’s response to all this has been pathetic. At the time, the U.N. High Commissioner for Human Rights said he was “horrified” by the violence against protesters. The U.N. Security Council called the situation “deeply concerning.” Little else was done.
Finally, last week, the U.N.’s Human Rights Council quietly confirmed what was patently obvious: There was widespread slaughter in Iran. The council concluded that the murders constituted “crimes against humanity.”
It also noted that tens of thousands of Iranians were detained while, in prisons, there has been “torture and ill-treatment.” It added, “More than 70 individuals, including at least five women and three boys, remain at imminent risk of being sentenced to death.” Twenty-nine people have been executed.
None of this has produced many headlines in the West. But in launching its reign of terror, the Islamic regime may have planted the seeds of its own demise. That, at least, is my hope after seeing and feeling the pain, anger and desperation of the Iranian people in this extraordinary film.
