A video on social media showed the man on the ground, his shirt stripped off and blood running down his face and body. The government blamed the death on “vigilante rioters” and launched a commando-style raid in Shahrak Ekbatan to arrest a group of young men accused of killing Mr. Aliverdi.
Security forces destroyed furniture in lobbies, wrecked doors and damaged elevators so badly that they were out of service, according to residents and videos on social media. Shattered glass and debris carpeted the ground and blood was splattered on the floor tiles, residents said.
Dozens of Shahrak Ekbatan’s residents, mostly young men and women who were out protesting, have been beaten, shot with pellet guns, dragged into vans and taken to detention centers, residents said. Several doormen, many of whom are elderly, were also beaten with batons for not cooperating with the security forces, the residents said.
The crackdown at Shahrak Ekbatan underlines just how far the protests have spread in Iran, and the government’s inability to contain them even with the deployment of security forces and their heavy-handed crackdowns.
Many young Iranians say they have lost their fear of the authorities and have nothing to lose. Protests have continued across university campuses, at funerals and memorials for people killed by security forces, on the streets and at apartment compounds like Shahrak Ekbatan across the country.
In some instances protesters have fought back, charging after security forces with rocks, hurling Molotov cocktails, burning police motorcycles and beating officers, according to videos, media reports and the government. Rights groups say 250 people have been killed, including 32 children and teenagers, but the real number could be much higher. The government says at least 24 security officers have been killed.
While Shahrak Ekbatan had already been the scene of violent clashes, residents said the raid on Sunday represented a new level of violence unleashed on people in their homes who had not participated in protests, including old people, small children and the sick and disabled.
