10 lies Western media
is telling you about unrest in Iran

What began as harmless, peaceful protests by business owners demanding economic reforms—the fundamental source of the Iranian people’s hardship being years of crippling Western sanctions—devolved into what can essentially be characterized as systemic urban terrorism.

The lived reality within Iranian cities, and the genuine sentiment among the populace, stands in stark contrast to the narrative aggressively pushed by Western media. The horrors that Iranians endured during the early January nights bear absolutely no resemblance to the fabricated accounts being peddled. In this regard, the media is slavishly echoing the talking points issued by Israeli and Western politicians who suddenly posture as champions of Iranian “rights,” all while conspicuously omitting any call for lifting the sanctions that have utterly decimated their livelihoods. This sudden, feigned concern for Iranian rights is especially egregious when juxtaposed with the West’s complicity in the Gaza genocide, where Israel has systematically murdered at least 71,000 people over the past two years. The entire enclave has been reduced to rubble, and the remaining population is systematically starved and bombarded daily, even under a so-called ceasefire. The West, however, has done nothing less than actively justify and materially aid these atrocities.

Below are ten of the most egregious lies constantly told by Western politicians and Western media regarding the recent unrest in Iran.

There have only been peaceful protests

Mainstream media and political figures in the West have persistently mischaracterized the situation in Iran, repeatedly framing it as a straightforward crackdown on unarmed, peaceful demonstrators by security forces.

In truth, isolated, peaceful protests did occur in late December. Iranian bazaar merchants initiated the movement, shuttering their enterprises and rallying in their districts to protest the rapid devaluation of the Iranian Rial. These demonstrations unfolded sporadically over several days and was marked by the absence of any significant confrontation between the protesters and security forces. Riot police were deployed to every gathering but were rarely compelled to act, as there was no attempt to engage them violently or vandalize public infrastructure.

The dynamic, however, underwent a catastrophic transformation on January 8th and 9th. This shift followed explicit calls from the exiled son of the deposed Shah—who has openly endorsed Israel’s June war against Iran—urging Iranians “to flood the streets and overthrow the regime” so he might reclaim the palaces of his youth. His televised pronouncements caused the original protesters, who were already engaged in constructive dialogue with authorities to air their grievances, to withdraw entirely from the streets that weekend.

A different cohort—primarily young, armed, and radicalized individuals—usurped the movement, replacing the established business owners. Though far smaller in number, this new faction orchestrated some of the most horrific nights in modern Iranian history. They savagely executed security personnel and civilians using methods of unprecedented brutality, incinerated public and private assets, and generated scenes not witnessed in Iran since the active operations of terrorist cells within its borders during the 1980s.

Israel and the United States were not involved in the unrest

The first to openly reveal that Israel and the United States were arming and directing terrorists within Iran were not Iranian authorities, but American and Israeli figures and entities.

Prior to the outbreak of unrest, Mossad’s Persian-language X account—which had brazenly solicited Iranian cooperation for financial gain a month after the 12-day war concluded—posted that Israeli agents “were on the ground” assisting in the government’s overthrow. Similarly, the Israeli newspaper Jerusalem Post reported that “Mossad agents were present at the Iranian protests.”

Former U.S. Secretary of State and CIA Director Mike Pompeo took to X on January 1st to offer “Happy New Year” greetings to Iranian protesters and, implicitly, to the Mossad agents he claimed were “walking alongside.”

U.S. President Donald Trump repeatedly attempted to reignite the riots after they fizzled out. He made multiple pronouncements of intent to attack Iran “to help” them, and at one point, openly incited terrorism by urging rioters to “take over your institutions,” assuring them that “help is on the way.”

Multiple former CIA officers have also confirmed that the unrest in Iran was a playbook CIA-Mossad operation. Former CIA agent Larry Johnson stated that “the recent chaos in Iran was not a spontaneous uprising, but a calculated intelligence operation orchestrated by the CIA and Mossad.” Another, John Kiriakou, explained: “The Israelis have confirmed that many of the Iranian protesters are Mossad agents. They openly boast about this in Israeli newspapers.”

Authorities imposed a total internet shutdown to crack down on protesters

Following the initial outbreak of violence on January 8th, significant limitations were imposed on Iran’s internet access, although the restrictions were not total. While Iranians retained access to online applications for daily life, access to messaging apps, platforms, and websites operated by Western companies was curtailed.

The primary objective was not to suppress “peaceful protesters,” but to sever communication channels between rioters and their foreign handlers, predominantly based in Western Europe and Israel. This measure was crucial for national security and demonstrably effective in curbing the wave of terrorism. The swift quelling of the riots was facilitated, in part, by the disruption of coordinated communication among the armed and trained individuals and their external handlers.

The internet restrictions implemented after January 8th have gradually been lifted as a result of widespread arrests of rioters and terrorists. Full restoration is anticipated within the coming days.

12,000 or 16,500 protesters have been killed in Iran

The same media apparatus that actively sows doubt regarding the under-reported casualty figures in Gaza—dismissing the “Hamas-run Gaza health ministry” while ignoring the available names and identification for all 71,000 deceased Palestinians—has fabricated casualty numbers for Iran out of thin air. Western officials and media outlets have thrown out varying figures—5,000, 12,000, and 16,500—without detailing the methodology, providing evidence, or offering any form of identification.

While Iranian authorities have yet to confirm the final death toll, they affirm it is substantially lower than the inflated figures circulated by Western media. Notably, these outlets also deliberately omit that a significant portion of the fatalities involve security forces, and that the majority of civilian deaths were inflicted directly by the rioters themselves, a fact clearly documented by CCTV and traffic cameras across Iranian cities. None of this footage has ever been acknowledged or broadcast by Western media.

Iranian forces have used chemical weapons against protesters

What narrative is more predictable than the West alleging that a Middle Eastern government deploys unconventional weapons against its own populace? This very fabrication paved the road to the US-UK invasion of Iraq, which ultimately claimed over a million Iraqi civilian lives. The script was repeated in Syria and Libya, and now, it is being peddled against Iran.

A strikingly similar fabrication surfaced in 2022 when Western outlets claimed Iranian authorities were deploying chemical agents against schoolgirls. Not only were no such chemical weapons ever found, but the entire sensational story vanished once the 2022 unrest subsided. This current cycle began when a British official first alleged the use of “automatic weapons” against “protesters.” This initial claim, like all that followed, was amplified by eager media outlets, yet the evidence, unsurprisingly, remains completely absent.

Families must pay a 1-billion-Toman fee to receive the victims’ bodies

This is another baseless fabrication, echoing lies circulated during previous deadly riots in Iran. What is immediately notable is that these reports fail to identify the recipient of this supposed payment. Are they paying the municipality, the police force, the medical jurisprudence office, or the cemetery responsible for burial? Furthermore, no single family has ever come forward to claim they were forced to pay for their loved one’s interment. Moreover, 1 billion Tomans is not an amount that can be transacted in cash. If thousands of families are being extorted, where is a single receipt proving transfer to a government body? Where is any evidence?

Iran’s Leader arranged to flee to Moscow; he then got shot at the airport

Since a literal official in the UK first claimed that the Leader of the Islamic Revolution, Ayatollah Seyyed Ali Khamenei, had arranged an escape to Moscow, the Leader has appeared in the public eye at least three times. His lie was quickly escalated by other outlets, which alleged the escape had already commenced, only to add—with equal futility—that he never arrived in Moscow because he got shot at the Tehran airport. The 86-year-old Leader certainly did not appear to have suffered any gunshot wounds when he met with thousands of Iranians on Saturday.

The singular, transparent goal behind deploying such transparently false narratives is to demoralize and demotivate Iran’s armed forces and security apparatus.

Other top officials are leaving Iran too

When Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi travelled to Lebanon earlier this month, Western media claimed he had taken his family with him to take refuge in the Arab country. Another report claimed that Parliament Speaker Mohammad Baqer Qalibaf had also fled to Moscow with his family. Both these two figures remain in Tehran. 

Based on previous similar reports, Iran’s Leader and his top officials must already be residing in Venezuela. When Iran faced unrest in 2022, a far broader disinformation campaign asserted that Ayatollah Khamenei and other senior Iranian officials had fled to Caracas to be with President Maduro.

Iranian officials are transferring dollar bills and gold to other countries

Someone in their 60s or 70s, still obsessed with the thriller and action movies of their youth, must have invented this lie. Western media outlets have circulated the claim that Iranian officials are transferring dollar bills and gold bars to other countries for use after a ‘revolution’ topples the Islamic Republic. These lies suggest that money and gold have been spotted in numerous suitcases at Iranian airports, despite the complete lack of confirming video or imagery.

Moreover, in 2026, wealth transfer is far easier—cryptocurrency, for instance, offers a ready alternative. This mirrors a similar fabrication circulated in June when the Western media attempted to paint the Islamic Republic as collapsing.

The Islamic Republic has used non-Iranian forces to crack down on protesters

There is not a shortage of riot police in Iran, but Western media outlets have claimed that non-Iranian forces, specifically from Iraqi Resistance factions, were deployed for internal suppression.

This narrative mirrors a similar lie circulated during the 2022 unrest. In response to the recent allegations, an Iraqi official has unequivocally rejected these claims and publicly demanded that any outlet making such assertions provide verifiable evidence. The undeniable objective of these lies is to systematically sever the deep, decades-long bonds of solidarity between the Iranian people and the regional Resistance forces Iran actively supports.

Republished from Tehran Times