Like so many Iranian Australians, Morteza Khandani has been desperate for any news of his family in Iran.
Two days ago he was able to confirm the worst. His niece Negin Ghadimi had been killed in anti-government protests.
"We feel devastated," Mr Khandani told 7.30 from his home in Brisbane.
Negin, a bio-electrical engineer, was 28.
"She had hoped to come to Australia one day and she was close to getting to do it," Mr Khandani said.
Last Friday in Tonekabon, also known as Shahsavar, 250 kilometres north of Tehran, Negin joined demonstrators on the streets.
"Negin wanted to go out to the crowd. She wanted to be the voice of the Iranian[s]," Mr Khandani said.
"Her father accompanied her and her father said, 'You will be safe in my hands. We need to go together.'"
Friday was the second night of protests after the exiled crown prince of Iran, Reza Pahlavi, called for anti-regime demonstrations across the country.
In Tonekabon, the march quickly turned violent.
"They threw out tear gases," Mr Khandani said.
"Her father said, 'Negin, we can go back'. And she said, 'We don't have anything to lose, father. We need to go forward'.
"She got shot from the left flank with live ammunition, [the bullet] leaving her body from her stomach."
Negin was rushed to a nearby house but violent clashes nearby meant they could not get her to a hospital.
"The time that they had to stay in that house until the gunfire stops, it was too long … she couldn't last. She died in the hands of her father," Mr Khandani said.
'Blood in the streets'
Negin's death is one of many. Estimates vary on the number of protesters who have been killed by security forces since anti-regime protests began in late December.
US-based rights group HRANA says more than 2,400 protesters have been killed, but other opposition-aligned groups, such as Iran International, claim there have been more than 12,000 deaths.
The limited accounts from those inside the country suggest a widespread and deadly response by the government.
On Tuesday, Iranian Canadian journalist Samira Mohyeddin was with a friend in Toronto when they received a phone call on a landline. It was her friend's daughter in Iran.
"The first thing she said to us was, 'Things are very, very bad here'. When you go out into the streets you can slip on blood," Mohyeddin said.
"She said that there's blood in the streets.
"She told me that there are drones in the sky monitoring everything, that anti-riot police are in the streets and that where she is in Nowshar there have been no protests for the past two days."
Mohyeddin said the internet blackout in Iran has made communication by apps virtually impossible.
She says the reason is so that the government can stifle protest, but it is also costing businesses.
"It's important to note the internet is used by people to do business in Iran," she told 7.30.
"Merchants trade with each other through things like Telegram [and] WhatsApp … so there's a lot of money being lost."
Mohyeddin expected the internet blackout to continue, at least for now.
"This is an existential threat, this is how the Iranian government sees this. So they will continue with this internet blackout until they can show the world there's nothing going on here," she said.
Iranian state television has shown funerals for members of the security forces it says have been killed in the protests.
The country's foreign minister has also accused demonstrators of opening fire on anti-riot police to encourage an American response.
Trump's quandary
After days of threats to intervene in Iran if mass executions went ahead there has also been a change in tone from US President Donald Trump.
"We have been informed by very important sources on the other side. They've said the killing has stopped and the executions won't take place," Mr Trump said in the Oval Office.
"There were supposed to be a lot of executions today and the executions won't take place."
Dr Kylie Moore-Gilbert was released in 2020 after she spent more than two years in an Iranian prison charged with espionage.
Now a research fellow at Macquarie University, she argues that it is naive to believe executions in Iran will not go ahead.
"There's no doubt in my mind or in the minds of Iran experts, human rights experts, that Iran will start executing protesters," Dr Moore-Gilbert told 7.30.
"Multiple Islamic Republic officials have said they intend to execute protesters to essentially set an example to others that might be thinking of protesting in the future."
Dr Moore-Gilbert believes that, considering his statements over recent days, Mr Trump may now have little choice but to act.
"Having called for the Iranian protesters to continue to take to the streets, having said that help is on its way, he's locked and loaded and ready to go," she said.
"If he was to do nothing, people will have died because of his words."
But Dr Moore-Gilbert believes there is a possibility a US military response will make things worse.
"It actually could rally the regime supporters further behind the crackdown … as well as give credence to the conspiracy theories promoted by the regime that this is some kind of American and Israeli plot."
Back in Brisbane, Mr Khandani believes that, after confirming his niece's death in the protests, there is only one worse thing he could learn when Iran's internet curtain lifts.
"The most harrowing news that can come out of Iran would be that this regime stays in power," he said.
"I think that's the most shocking news that can come out of the country."
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