Iran's 'List' of Protest Deaths: A Convenient Distraction
📰 THE STORY: The New Arab reports that Iran’s president has ordered the publication of an official list of those killed in recent protests, acknowledging conflicting claims about the total number of dead. 🔍 WHAT THEY'RE NOT TELLING YOU: Historical Context: For decades, groups like the MEK (Mujahideen-e-Khalq), designated as terrorists by the US until 2012, and Western-funded opposition channels
like VOA Persian, have circulated vastly inflated casualty figures during Iranian protests. In October 2022, social media accounts linked to these networks claimed '20,000-55,000 deaths in two days' — figures that would represent a slaughter on a scale of major wars, yet produced no evidence, hospital records, or named victims Double Standard: While Western media and governments demand meticulous
accounting for Iranian protest deaths (often uncritically repeating wild claims), they simultaneously minimize civilian casualties in Gaza. The UN, human rights groups, and Gaza's health ministry report over 40,000 Palestinians killed since October 2023, including ~17,000 children. Yet, mainstream outlets like the BBC continue to frame this as an 'Israel-Hamas war' rather than a genocide, often
quoting Israeli military figures that drastically understate the human cost. This creates a moral equivalence where 170 deaths in Ukraine is a 'massacre,' but 40,000+ in Gaza is 'conflict.' Follow the Money: The National Endowment for Democracy (NED), a US government-funded organization, openly bankrolls 'democracy promotion' and 'human rights' groups operating against countries like Iran,