“Prevent the Bloodshed”: Filmmaker Sepideh Farsi on Iran Protests & U.S. Threats of Military Strikes

January 30, 2026
The latest reliable estimates of the death toll in Iran’s recent nationwide protests are growing, potentially reaching the tens of thousands. Some estimates place the number of civilians killed by government forces at 30,000 or more. We play a rare eyewitness account of the deadly massacre of protesters in Rasht, Iran, and speak to the Iranian filmmaker and political dissident Sepideh Farsi, who says U.S. military intervention “would only worsen the situation.” She warns that President Trump’s interest in U.S. military action on the country is “for business,” and “not for Iranian people.”

AMY GOODMAN: This is Democracy Now!, democracynow.org, The War and Peace Report. I’m Amy Goodman.
We end today’s show in Iran. The New York Times reports President Trump has been presented in recent days with a, quote, “expanded list of potential military options against Iran aimed at doing further damage to the country’s nuclear and missile facilities or weakening Iran’s supreme leader,” unquote. The current options include sending U.S. forces inside Iran to carry out raids.
Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth spoke during Trump’s Cabinet meeting Thursday.
DEFENSE SECRETARY PETE HEGSETH: Same thing with Iran right now, ensuring that they have all the options to make a deal. They should not pursue nuclear capabilities. We will be prepared to deliver whatever this president expects of the War Department.
AMY GOODMAN: Meanwhile, inside Iran, Reuters reports, security forces have rounded up thousands of people in an attempt to prevent renewed anti-government protests. According to the U.S.-based Human Rights Activists News Agency, over 6,000 protesters were killed since December, but some believe to be — that to be a vast undercount.
For more, we’re joined by Sepideh Farsi, Iranian filmmaker and activist, the director of the documentary Put Your Soul on Your Hand and Walk. Sepideh Farsi was born and raised in Iran. She was jailed for almost a year as a teenager in Iran for helping a political dissident in her high school. Since 2009, she can’t go back to Iran due to her films and her political statements.
Sepideh, explain what’s happening there in Iran right now. You’re deeply critical of the Iranian government, but also critical of the U.S. threats to strike Iran.
SEPIDEH FARSI: Yes. Hi, Amy. Thanks for talking about Iran.
I was just listening to the statement you broadcasted. I am amazed that they talk about everything except the Iranian people who are losing their lives. This is my main concern now, to prevent the bloodshed, to stop it. Of course I’m against Khamenei and the whole regime. And I am also very concerned about a possible military intervention, because it would only worsen the situation. As we remember, last June, it only reinforced the regime. When Israel first started the so-called preemptive attacks and America followed, they didn’t end the nuclear capacities of Iran, because they’re still talking about it, and they did not harm the regime, because all those who were killed by them were replaced. And now, even if they hit Khamenei, somebody else will take over. This is not the way to do.
And we’re hearing about tens of thousands of killed people, people arrested. Many of my friends have been called in for interrogation. Doctors are being arrested. Lawyers are being arrested, kidnapped. And there are death sentences pronounced against people, activists, which will go if this attack would happen. This is really my concern, that what would go on in Iran if they do this, they would destroy part of the country, perhaps part of the regime’s capacity, but the regime will not fall. We’ve already seen this.
AMY GOODMAN: How many people do you think have been killed? How many people have been arrested? What do you base your information on?
SEPIDEH FARSI: It’s very hard to evaluate that. And even one life is too much gone, you know. I mean, but I’ve seen, and I see every day — every time I go on social media, I see new names coming up. Right now the latest, quite believable, I would say, but I’m not, you know, a human rights NGO, and all the figures are quite kind of under. But we are — I saw a count which was city by city, and that was a bit more than 30,000 — 30,274, to be precise. And we’re talking about 100,000 people injured in the eye, who lost one or two eyes. We’re talking about tens of thousands of arrestees, more people who are being called in. All those who might, in one way or another, help wounded people or defend prisoners are now being called in to be jailed or to be interrogated. It’s a total disaster. Total disaster.
AMY GOODMAN: During the nationwide uprising, Iranian security forces apparently killed dozens of protesters in the market of the Caspian Sea city of Rasht on the night of January 8th. We turn now to a rare eyewitness testimony of that apparent massacre. For the safety of the eyewitness, we’re keeping her identity concealed.
EYEWITNESS: [translated] You know what happened? She told me that they made a mistake by running away through the alleys. She said they should have stayed with the main group, the mass of the people, but instead, they ran into the alleys. But whoever went into the alleys and the side streets was shot by the forces and killed. They tracked them down there and cornered them and shot them.
She said, “I was running away, and they shot me once. And when I continued running, one of them followed and hit me with a baton. But because I continued to run, they shot me a second time. And when I fell down to the ground, they thought I was dead, and they left me. After they left, I crawled to a fruit shop, and the shopkeeper is the one who took me to the hospital.” As if we are not human beings. It’s as if we are all running away from a mass murder. What happened to her could have happened to any of us there earlier that night.
At the beginning of the evening, you didn’t see any special forces there around the town hall, where the rally and the gathering had started and was taking place. And there were so many people at the rally. The gathering was so crowded, so big. But not one of the protesters attacked any of the administrative buildings. No one attacked the town hall. No damage was done by the protesters to the administrative buildings, nor to the banks.
You can’t imagine. You can’t imagine the size of the rally, how many people were there. And then they, the military forces, came back by the evening. Why did they come and start rounding up all the young people and burning buildings? A number of people had taken shelter in the bazaar, and that’s where they opened machine guns on them, and they killed them all. It was a rain of bullets. I was farther away, and I was hearing the bullets, the gunshots, and I thought, “Well, there are so many people. The military forces cannot do anything. So they are just shooting in the air to scare people.” But it turns out that they were actually shooting on the people and killing them. Killing them.
AMY GOODMAN: We’re not identifying this eyewitness. Sepideh Farsi, in this last minute or so that we have left, your message to the United States, to Israel, to Iranian protesters and to the world?
SEPIDEH FARSI: Iranian protesters are cut off from the world, but they are looking at us. About less than 20% of the internet traffic is now established, but it’s still very weak.
My message to America, to the United States, and to Israel is, please, think of the Iranian people. If you are thinking of democracy in Iran — and I do believe deeply that a democratic Iran is the best partner for any of those countries to deal with afterwards — leave it to the Iranian people. Please put maximum pressure, but diplomatic pressure. IRGC has been listed by Europe, the European Council yesterday, finally, as a terrorist organization. They can freeze their assets. Please stop dealing with this regime, and do not do a military attack. I don’t believe that. That is not for the interests of the people. That is, again, to strike a deal, as Trump wants to. This is not for Iranian people. This is just for business. So, I —
AMY GOODMAN: I want to thank you so much, Sepideh Farsi, for being with us, from Paris, France, Iranian filmmaker and activist, once jailed in Iran, director, most recently, of Put Your Soul on Your Hand and Walk.