The images that have leaked from Iran—bodies stacked in and outside the Kahrizak forensic center, families sifting through black body bags—are the kind of human horror that should shame the entire civilized world into action. No amount of diplomatic hedging can erase the moral clarity of seeing a regime that murders its own people and then treats their corpses like cargo. Amnesty International and other human rights groups have reviewed the footage and counted scores, if not hundreds, of victims, and Americans should not look away.

Independent reporters and global news agencies have geolocated the footage to official morgue facilities south of Tehran, where an overflow of bodies has been documented in multiple verified videos. Witnesses and rights groups describe a counting screen that reached numbers in the hundreds and rooms so full that doors would not open, a grotesque logistical problem created by a murderous security apparatus. This is not distant horror; it is filmed evidence showing theocratic brutality on a mass scale.

Credible monitors and news outlets report that the death toll from the crackdown climbs by the day, with thousands detained and hundreds killed according to rights groups working against Iran’s internet blackout. The regime’s tactic—tightening communications while escalating violence—is classic authoritarian behavior designed to hide its crimes from the world. We should treat those figures and images as a call to action, not a reason for moral relativism or timid statements from Washington.

Tehran’s leaders have already warned of retaliation if foreign powers intervene, and they have predictably tried to spin the footage by labeling victims as “rioters.” Make no mistake: threats and bluster from theocratic tyrants do not erase culpability. Western nations must be clear-eyed about the difference between legitimate deterrence and cowardice disguised as caution.

Reports confirm that Washington is watching developments closely and that President Trump has been presented with a range of options, including robust measures to punish those responsible and support the protesters. This administration has repeatedly said it keeps all options on the table, and in the face of video proof of mass slaughter, “all options” should mean tangible pressure on the regime and its enablers. If images like these don’t force a rethink of weak, status-quo foreign policy, then what possibly could?

Conservatives who believe in American leadership should be clear: standing with Iranian dissidents is not intervention for its own sake, it is standing for human liberty and the rule of law. If the White House uses sanctions, diplomatic isolation, targeted strikes against military infrastructure, or other means to make Tehran pay for mass murder, it will be because the American people demanded accountability. President Trump has shown a willingness to act when our interests and our values converge; now he has footage and facts to match the rhetoric.

Let every American who believes in freedom look at the footage and decide where they stand. Do we continue to negotiate with a genocidal regime while its streets fill with the dead, or do we rally behind policies that give the oppressed a fighting chance? This is a moment that exposes the moral bankruptcy of appeasement and the necessity of American resolve—stand with the victims, support decisive leadership, and make sure Tehran knows there will be consequences.