Chilling image shows pile of shoes outside historic Iranian bazaar where protesters were burned alive

WionewsJan 20, 2026Read original

The Iranian regime has been accused of killing innocent protesters calling for the current administration to step down. Police forces have been opening fire on people, with reports alleging they are aiming for their heads. On January 8, in the city of Rasht, northwest Iran, demonstrators were reportedly trapped in a historic bazaar and burned alive. According to eyewitness accounts and human rights organisations, anyone who tried to escape was shot, revealing the brutalities being committed by the Iranian leaders. A haunting image from the scene showing a pile of abandoned shoes is being shared on social media, sending chills down the spine. The alleged incident is being termed “Iran’s Holocaust”. People are in a state of shock to see a country committing such atrocities against its own people. Arash Sigarchi, an award-winning journalist, former Iranian political prisoner and managing editor of Voice of America’s Persian Division, shared the image on X and wrote, "If this is not a crime against humanity, what is?"

He drew parallels with a display of victims’ shoes at the Holocaust Museum in Washington, DC. Sigarchi called out that the Iranian regime was being "Nazi-like." Suren Edgar, vice president of the Australian-Iranian Community Alliance, also shared the same photo on X and wrote, "These shoes in Rasht are not art." He added, "They belonged to people trapped after regime forces set the historic bazaar on fire and shot those trying to escape. The imagery is unmistakable — an Iranian Holocaust unfolding in real time." The Iran Human Rights (IHR), a Norway-based NGO, shared details of the massacre at the bazaar, saying that the people inside had already surrendered to the forces. Despite this, they were burned alive. The organisation also shared footage of the charred remains of the bazaar.

Iran has been under an internet blackout since January 8, days after mass protests spread across the country. People are angry with the economic situation of the country and want Supreme Leader Ayatollah Khamenei to quit. However, the Iranian administration has labelled the protesters "traitors" who are "waging a war against God." To prevent information from leaking out of the country and to control the narrative, Iran blocked the internet on January 8. IHR founder, Mahmood Amiry-Moghaddam, told the British newspaper The Observer, "The mass killings started right after the internet blackout." Meanwhile, Khamenei has been slamming the US and President Donald Trump through his social media account, keeping the channel open for himself.

Another eerie image was earlier shared by human rights groups showing scores of body bags lying on the ground. Activists have confirmed that nearly 5,000 people have been killed at the hands of the forces in Iran. However, doctors collated emergency room data to show that the number could be as high as 16,500. There are also fears of executions, as fears are being raised that many of those arrested could be hanged in public and tortured in jails.