Women Raped, Uterus Removed, Scalps Ripped Off to Crush Iran Protests, Alleges Journalist

A Tehran-born journalist has made deeply disturbing allegations that the Iranian government employed systematic sexual violence and mutilation as part of its brutal crackdown on nationwide protests, using rape as a tool to instil fear and suppress dissent—particularly among women.

According to Michel Abdollahi, an Iranian-German journalist based in Germany, Iranian security forces went far beyond killings during the suppression of protests, allegedly engaging in rape, forced mutilation, and extreme physical abuse against women demonstrators.

The protests, which erupted amid rising economic hardship and later evolved into a broader movement against the ruling establishment, appear to have been violently crushed under the authority of Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei. Abdollahi claims the repression included sexual torture aimed at breaking the spirit of those who dared challenge the regime.

Abdollahi’s allegations were first highlighted by the Daily Mail and are supported by testimonies reported by the German publication Die Welt. According to these accounts, Iranian security agents issued explicit rape threats to detained women protesters.

Additional reports suggest that arrested demonstrators were subjected to forced nudity and injected with unknown chemical substances, raising serious concerns over the methods used during detention.

In a video shared on social media, Abdollahi said he had received multiple first-hand testimonies describing the violence inflicted on women who openly defied the Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC). These acts of defiance reportedly included refusing to wear hijabs, riding motorbikes, and publicly burning photographs of Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei while smoking cigarettes.

The journalist said such actions were met with severe retaliation, as authorities sought to make examples of women protesters to deter further resistance.

These shocking claims come as Iran intensified its crackdown on nationwide demonstrations that began in December last year. Initially triggered by worsening economic conditions, the protests quickly escalated into one of the largest movements in decades demanding an end to clerical rule under the Ayatollah.

Iran Security Forces Accused of Removing Uteruses and Ripping Off Scalps

Based on eyewitness testimonies he claims to have verified, Abdollahi alleged that women participating in protests were deliberately targeted for rape and mutilation in order to create maximum fear and discourage future demonstrations.

“No women’s bodies are turning up, or very few,” Abdollahi said. “And that’s because, according to eyewitness accounts, they are being raped, their uteruses removed, their scalps ripped off along with their hair, and their bodies covered in cigarette burns.”

He further alleged that the Islamic Republic under Khamenei “uses rape as a weapon against its own people”, adding that young men and minors were also subjected to comparable levels of violence.

Abdollahi’s claims closely mirror reports published by Die Welt, which cited first-hand testimonies from witnesses. One account described security officers forcibly throwing injured and uninjured young women into vehicles.

“We won’t kill you,” a witness quoted officers as saying. “We’ll rape you first, then we’ll kill you,” according to the testimony reported by the German outlet.

The journalist also accused Iranian authorities of attempting to erase evidence of torture by destroying bodies before returning them to families.

“They do this to so many people in this country, and it’s unbearable,” Abdollahi said. “It’s so horrible what they do that they burn the bodies before handing them back, just to hide what happened.”

Similar allegations have been reported by international media. The UK-based The Guardian detailed the case of a 16-year-old protester who was allegedly sexually abused by Iranian security personnel while detained in the western city of Kermanshah.

Rebin Rahmani of the Kurdistan Human Rights Network (KHRN) told The Guardian that detainees were sexually assaulted during transport. “Security personnel touched their bodies with batons throughout the transfer,” he said. “They used a baton to beat and apply pressure to the anal area through clothing.”

Iran’s Brutal Crackdown on Demonstrators

These allegations emerge amid one of Tehran’s harshest crackdowns on civil unrest in recent history. Protests that spread across Iran in January were met with overwhelming force.

The IRGC’s Basij militia, along with an estimated 5,000 Shia militants from Iraq, were reportedly deployed to quell what Supreme Leader Khamenei described as an uprising “like a coup.” Authorities also cut off internet access and restricted international communication beginning January 8.

Casualty figures from the protests and subsequent repression remain disputed. Iran’s state-run Islamic Republic News Agency, citing the Martyrs Foundation and Veterans, reported that 3,117 people were killed, including 2,427 identified as security forces or “innocent martyrs.”

In contrast, a Reuters report dated January 19 quoted an Iranian official as saying at least 5,000 people had died. Meanwhile, the US-based group Human Rights Activists in Iran estimated 3,308 deaths, with an additional 4,382 cases still under investigation.

Despite the violence, Abdollahi said the Iranian people remain determined to resist. “I speak with Iranians every day,” he said. “Everyone has lost loved ones—everyone. Everyone is wearing black. It feels like a cemetery. But people are also saying they will not give up.”