- Cell phone footage shows a bare-chested man wielding a knife.
- He is encircled by about a dozen regime forces armed with guns.
- Morovati has become a hero to supporters of Iran’s protest movement.
The video went viral right away. A bare-chested man carrying a knife was seen in cell phone film at anti-government demonstrations in Iran’s Kurdish city of Sanandaj, surrounded by about a dozen armed regime security personnel.
Security guards jumped back and forth with every move the demonstrator made, appearing to alternately take turns gently striking their batons at him, some even shooting their weapons at him.
He said that after being shot many times at close range, the protester eventually dropped to his knees.
Ashkan Morovati, a Kurdish Iranian boxer who has since gained notoriety among supporters of Iran’s protest movement, was given his first public appearance.
The background to the video, which was recorded in late October, was described by Morovati in an exclusive interview with CNN. He said that in the moments prior to the on-camera altercation, he had spoken with security personnel and requested that they approach protesters clamoring for the overthrow of the nation’s iron-fisted clerical dictatorship with more restraint.
According to Morovati, “I went there to tell them to stand by the people and create compromises with them.” “You are ruthlessly oppressing people, and this is below humanity.”
Morovati claims that when he was speaking to them, the security personnel suddenly attacked, pelting him with batons and pepper spray before opening fire. He claims that he simply used his knife to defend himself, but it was ineffective.
“They shot me twice in both legs with military-grade bullets after shooting me once with a shotgun from a very close distance.”
When CNN requested comment from Iranian authorities, they did not provide it.
Morovati was detained and later charged with “waging war against God,” also known as “moharebeh,” which carries a death sentence and is a charge that the Iranian administration frequently employs to punish political demonstrators in the nation.
He might have lost his life in the ordeal. Instead, it prompted his risky flight from Iran.
Clinging to life
When it started in the middle of September, Iran’s statewide revolt shook the nation and presented the ruling clerical class with its worst domestic danger in more than a decade. Numerous acts of disobedience – and even violence – against the formidable Basij, a voluntary paramilitary organisation that serves as the core of the Islamic Republic’s security system, were committed in response to widespread protests that cut through the regime’s conservative support base. A wall of dread seemed to have crumbled under the weight of the youthful and incensed demonstrators.
Four months later, however, a mounting wave of violence against protestors, including scores of execution sentences given to demonstrators, has quelled Iran’s demonstrations but not the underlying popular rage. Recent executions are the result of an increasingly brutal response that included shooting demonstrators, mass arrests, physical and sexual assault, and more.
Morovati claims that before leaving Iran for good, he died numerous times. He claims that even after his detention, regime agents continued to abuse him and even re-shoot him until they were positive he wouldn’t make it.
“They shot me from extremely close range with a shotgun when they were taking me to the hospital, as if it were a coup de grace,” says Morovati. He thinks the police just brought him to the hospital because they were sure he would pass away.
Yet he survived.
He was brought to the ICU at Kowsar Hospital in Sanandaj, where he received care from many medical professionals, including surgeon Dr. Iman Navabi.
According to specialists at the hospital, Morovati had 200 additional shotgun pellets in his body, some of which had caused catastrophic injuries, including a severed artery in his leg and a lung pierced by the projectiles.
Despite his grave circumstances, he somehow survived.
Do you feel 100%? In a video of Morovati following surgery that was shared on his Instagram, Navabi commanded, “Open your eyes. Morovati, a man of substantial figure, was lying on a stretcher with his feet protruding from the front, and Navabi towered over him. In hospital gowns, his concerned parents sat next to him.
Ashkan Morovati is okay, the procedure was successful, his status is stable, he is not in danger, he is in the ICU right now, and there is no need to be concerned, Navabi stated in the caption of his video.
According to the Norway-registered Hengaw Organization for Human Rights, numerous Iranian physicians and healthcare professionals have been detained as retaliation for providing medical care to demonstrators. After treating Morovati, Navabi himself was detained in early December. Terry Beech, a Canadian member of parliament, claims that he was ultimately released.
The Kurdish boxer, who had previously been shown lifting weights, punching, and sprinting in films uploaded to his social media accounts, spent about a month resting in a hospital bed.
Then, he claims that in the early hours of November 23, regime forces stormed the hospital and dragged him out.
The scene, according to Morovati, was “about 10 plainclothes operatives came along with around 20 armed soldiers who had entirely taken over the hospital, and grabbed me from the isolated ICU room.” “They hauled me to prison in that state because they had a court order to shoot anyone who approached to interfere.”
He claims that the suffering he felt in prison from his exposed wounds was intolerable.
Morovati claims that the jail officials ignored his calls for help when he was in pain and that he was no longer given continuous oxygen from an oxygen tank or constantly changed bandages for his wounds as he had been in the hospital.
About his nearly ten days in jail, Morovati adds, “I had to locate salt and apply them on my wounds to disinfect my wound just a little bit. They paid no heed to how I was feeling.
He had to rely on other inmates to lend him their painkillers.
After ten days, the prison staff agreed to move Morovati to an army hospital so that he could receive medical care after being pushed by his family and Kowsar Hospital doctors to do so in the court.
Morovati describes his six-day stay at the facility: “I was there in that situation with both my wrists and feet shackled to the bed.” He claims that when he was transported to a facility with superior resources, army physicians suggested that he was on the verge of death.
Morovati once more received a respite under the insistence of her family and doctor.
He recalls, “They gave me 20 days to get myself to a good hospital.”
During this period, the judiciary accused him of moharebe without holding a hearing or interrogating him. And it was at just this moment that Morovati made his spectacular escape.
Morovati chose to leave the nation by traveling overland rather than visiting a hospital. Morovati claims, “While seriously bleeding and in a very, very bad condition, I got out of the nation across mountains and deserts.”
He claims that he is presently at a safe area, outside of Iran’s borders, thanks to the assistance of friends.
According to Morovati, “many Iranians are dying to leave the nation and tell the world the truth.” “Our sole transgression is that we call for freedom, democracy, and the equality of women and men. Our crime was shouting “Woman, Life, Freedom.”
Morovati refuted the claim that Iranians are afraid in light of the recent crackdown on protestors by citing the protesters’ catchphrase, “Any one person who is killed, there are a thousand people in favor of them.”
Morovati asserts, “I don’t think people are terrified. “People [will] [continue to] stand fiercely while they are still standing,”
Despite the fact that Morovati hasn’t received medical care since making his getaway and that the leg that was shot is numb, he manages. He claims it’s very difficult for him to accept that, as a result of his injuries, he will be unable to pursue boxing as a career, but his current hopes are for a different outcome.
Morovati quickly replies that he doesn’t feel safe and that he is in pain when asked about his safety and any physical discomfort he may be experiencing. The liberation of Iran is, he swiftly adds, “the most important thing for me right now.”
I will sacrifice my life for my people, for my country, Iran, not once, but a thousand times, he continued.
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