More than 100 protesters were killed by Iranian special forces on Sunday after demonstrators took refuge near a marsh in the port city of Mahshahr, according to The New York Times.
The killings would mark one of the deadliest events in decades for the Islamic Republic, as anger continues to rage over hikes in energy prices imposed by the government.
According to The Times, members of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps opened fire on unarmed protesters with machine guns on November 18, killing an estimated 100 people, mostly men, as they attempted to hide in a nearby marsh.
Protests have raged across Iran over the past six weeks since the government imposed dramatic price hikes on gasoline by as much as 200% in an attempt to stave off economic catastrophe.
Testimony and evidence gathered on the day of the deadly rally shows that on November 18, the Revolutionary Guards deployed a large force to the Arab majority city of Mahshahr after demonstrators had taken control over parts of the city, including roads leading to a major petrochemical complex.
As special forces arrived to the scene, they immediately began opening fire without warning, causing demonstrators to disperse and take cover at a nearby marsh.
One of the protesters armed with a rifle began shooting at IRGC members, who responded by opening machine gun fire, killing dozens. After the massacre, a gun battle erupted when local residents armed with mostly hunting rifles began firing at the special force soldiers.
The report comes just days after Amnesty International, an international human rights organization, claimed that the regime has killed more than 160 civilians since the beginning of November, a number Tehran fervently disputes.