One move in the wrong direction and Kiarash would have been dead, he said, as a shooter opened fire on him and other protesters in the Iranian capital during a wave of demonstrations met by a deadly crackdown.

Blood stained the street after a person dressed in a full chador covering shot at a large crowd that had gathered in the north of Tehran on Jan. 10, during anti-government protests sparked by economic strain that exploded in size and intensity on Jan. 8.

¡°I heard this pop pop ... and I saw with my eyes three people collapsed at the same time,¡± said 44-year-old Kiarash, who spoke by phone from Germany where he lives, after witnessing violent suppression of protests while visiting his native Iran.