'Iran’s Babi Yar': An Israeli-Iranian expert says 'Iranians are being massacred in historic numbers'

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Jan 26, 2026

Meir Javedanfar, an Iranian-Israeli lecturer and analyst of Iranian politics, gives a stark assessment of nationwide repression. He compares recent mass killings to historic atrocities. He explains how tactics learned in Syria were used against protesters. He discusses casualty estimates, Iran’s military posture, possible retaliatory targets, and pathways for international pressure.

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ANECDOTE

A Harrowing Moment Watching BBC Persian

Meir Javedanfar described watching a BBC Persian segment of a father searching among bodies, which overwhelmed him.
He called the killings a "sledgehammer" and compared them to a Babi Yar–scale massacre affecting Iranians deeply.

INSIGHT

Perceived Global Abandonment

Javedanfar argued the scale of killings (around 30,000) rivals historic mass murders and leaves Iranians feeling abandoned.
He highlighted perceived silence from global left and some Palestinian intellectuals toward Iranian victims.

INSIGHT

Concessions Depend On Existential Threat

Javedanfar says concessions are only conceivable if Khamenei perceives an existential personal threat.
Otherwise, Khamenei will tolerate mass casualties to retain power, mirroring Assad's approach.

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The brutal crackdown on protesters killing tens of thousands has been a "sledgehammer" to Iranians everywhere, said Dr. Meir Javedanfar, an Israeli-Iranian expert on the government led by Ayatollah Ali Khameini.

"The people of Iran have just gone through their own Babi Yar massacre," Javedanfar said on the Haaretz Podcast, referring to the largest single mass-killing during the Holocaust. "The Nazis killed 30,000 people in the space of two days. The Iranian regime – if we accept the 30,000 number – has done the same in less than a month. … The level of cruelty is unlike anything Iranians have seen before. The people of Iran are being massacred in unprecedented and historic numbers."

The killings in the decade-long Syrian civil war was a laboratory for Iranian techniques of repression, he said, noting that Iranian leaders were often "disappointed when Bashar al-Assad was not violent enough against the people of Syria when they rose up." In Syria, he said, the Iranians "honed their skills" of deadly repression and are now using them "against their own people on the streets of Iran."

On the question of whether a U.S. attack on Iran could be averted by a change of heart by the regime, bringing them to the negotiating table, Javedanfar said he sees no chance of concessions unless Khamenei believes that "the Americans could kill him and his family."

If the U.S. attacks and Iran retaliates against Israel, he noted, the Israeli military will quickly join in the attack.

"If the Iranian regime makes a mistake of attacking us, we have very genuine targets in Iran to attack, especially Iran's missile program," Javedanfar said, adding "I also hope Israel targets regime officials who are taking part in the oppression and suppression of the people of Iran in such a violent manner, I think that would hold Israel in very good stead in future history books of Iran."

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