Iranian president orders publication of protest victims’ names in response to “falsehoods”

• Iranian president orders names of protest victims published as a response to what officials call “fabrication and false statistics” after reports suggested tens of thousands were killed in recent unrest.
• Protests erupted in late December 2025 over economic conditions and inflation, spreading nationwide; Iranian authorities reported 3,117 deaths and blamed foreign interference, while internet outages and clashes were widespread.

The Iranian president has directed that the names of those who died during recent nationwide protests be published, in a move described as a response to “fabrication and false statistics,” according to Mahdi Tabatabaei, deputy head of communications and media in the president’s office.

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Tabatabaei said on Wednesday that the step comes after a report by Time magazine on Sunday, citing two Iranian officials, suggested that as many as 30,000 people may have been killed during protests on January 8 and 9 alone.

The unrest began on December 28, 2025, with market vendors protesting economic conditions and inflation, before spreading across the country in the largest wave of opposition Iran has seen in years.

“Following instructions from the president, the names and information of all victims of recent tragic incidents will be made public,” Tabatabaei wrote on X (formerly Twitter). “A mechanism has also been established to carefully review any conflicting information or claims and verify their accuracy. This measure is a clear response to fabrication and false statistics.”

A few days earlier, Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesman Esmail Baqaei denied reports in Western media claiming 30,000 deaths during the protests. Writing on his official X page, Baqaei described the claims as “a big lie, reminiscent of Hitler: is this really the number of people they intended to kill in Iran’s streets? They could not, yet they now attempt to spread such fake news in the media. Truly wicked!”

Western media outlets had previously reported that more than 30,000 people were killed in the unrest. Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi stated that 3,117 people died as a result of “recent armed disturbances.”

The protests erupted in late December 2025 amid a sharp decline in the national currency and later escalated into broader confrontations. They peaked after calls from Reza Pahlavi, son of the deposed Shah of Iran. The government imposed nationwide internet restrictions and reported casualties among both security forces and protesters.

Iranian authorities accused the United States and Israel of orchestrating the unrest. On January 12, 2026, Tehran announced it had regained control of the situation, while acknowledging internet outages and losses on both sides during the disturbances.