Forty-eight hours in Isfahan

The Documentary Podcast

BBC

Documentary, Society & Culture

4.3 • 2.7K Ratings

🗓️ 5 March 2026

⏱️ 30 minutes

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Summary

*** This episode contains scenes of violence and descriptions you may find upsetting *** Eyewitnesses from a city in Iran describe how armed forces loyal to the Islamic regime killed countless protesters in a lethal crackdown on demonstrations earlier this year. Seen through the eyes of people who were in Isfahan, this programme pieces together a snapshot of events from the 8-9 January. That is when huge numbers of people took to the streets to protest decades of oppression and call for an end to the Islamic Republic. Thousands of people across the country were killed by Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei's armed forces. The regime blamed the bloodshed on what it called rioters and street terrorists backed by the country's enemies. The UN has called for an independent investigation. However, any prospect of clarity about what happened is at risk of being overshadowed by the current conflict engulfing Iran. The first waves of US and Israeli military strikes on Iran killed Ali Khamenei. There are reports of hundreds of civilian casualties too on a population that’s already paid a heavy human price for standing up to the regime.

Transcript

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0:00.0	BBC Sounds, Music, Radio, Podcasts.
0:06.0	BBC World Service.
0:07.9	This episode contains scenes of violence and descriptions that you may find upsetting.
0:15.0	Watch your back door let the crowd get behind you.
0:20.2	Radio communications, apparently from the middle of mass protests in Iran at the start of this year.
0:29.0	Tell Mohammed you to come so we can hit them. This appears to be members of Iran's security forces in the city at Visfarhan, calling for reinforcements.
0:40.2	We've translated what they say.
0:44.0	We are engaged with the protesters, but their numbers are increasing.
0:47.7	They're asking for help to contain the demonstrations that erupted right across the nation back in January.
0:57.6	There are now Iranians from all walks of life, marching through the streets, calling for change in all corners of the country.
1:05.6	From east to west, north to south, public anger mounting amid reports of demonstrators being shot dead.
1:14.2	We don't know the full extent of the crackdown. The BBC and many other international news media
1:19.8	weren't allowed to report from inside the country to cover the protests. But it's clear they were
1:24.8	put down with unprecedented force.
1:30.7	Body bags keep arriving, families keep searching.
1:33.9	The death toll now reported to be in the thousands.
1:39.6	The brutality of the regime's response precipitated the US military buildup that paved the way for the current war.
1:42.1	But the full story of what happened in Iran on the 8th and 9th of
1:45.5	January is yet to be told. This program pieces together a snapshot of events in Esfahan, the country's
1:52.7	third largest city. We thought if there's going to be millions of people on the street, that's it.
1:59.6	The regime cannot defeat us.
2:01.8	So we're going to win this time.
	...

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