Using the dead to justify a war

News reports that emerged from outside Iran put the number of dead protesters in the tens of thousands. Iranians inside the country, who took part in the demonstrations, tell a very different story

February 17, 2026 (The New World) — “When I left Tehran, I looked at the international news about what was happening inside Iran. I immediately understood how much disinformation was being spread. It is the biggest I have ever seen.”

These are not the words of a regime loyalist, or an apologist for repression. This was a 33-year-old academic who was home in Tehran during the January anti-government protests. He joined the demonstrations, spoke to friends across Iran, and then watched in disbelief as a different version of events hardened into international consensus.

“Let’s start with the ‘tens of thousands of dead’. How can that be possible?” the Iranian academic said. “What’s the methodology for these figures? I was in the centre of Tehran, in the protests, in the bazaar. No one was asking how these estimates were coming out. I am very sceptical.