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submitted 4 months ago* (last edited 4 months ago) by MicroWave@lemmy.world to c/world@lemmy.world

As details of the death toll for January’s protests continue to emerge, three students explain why they are resisting a return to normality

More than 45 days after a brutal January crackdown that left thousands of Iranian protesters dead, students across several universities are protesting again. As Iran’s new academic term began on Saturday, students in Tehran gathered on campus, chanting anti-government slogans, despite a heavy security presence and plainclothes officers stationed outside university gates.

The Guardian spoke to protesting students about why they were rallying despite the fact that thousands had been killed and tens of thousands arrested in the January demonstrations.

“Our classrooms are empty because the graveyards are full,” said Hossein*, 21, a student at the University of Tehran. “It’s for them – our friends, classmates and compatriots, who were gunned down in front of our eyes, that we decided to boycott the classes.”

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[-] wheezy@lemmy.ml 5 points 4 months ago* (last edited 4 months ago)

It's insane. Gaza is over two years of bombing turning it into a parking lot. Like, many people have been killed in Iran during the recent months. It's just gross to report numbers that are not physically possible.

I saw one report that MORE than 80,000 in 2 days. The last time that many people died in such a short amount of time was when we dropped two nuclear weapons on Japan. Did Iran nuke itself? Like, how can anyone print that number?

Not to mention, the solution to this is apparently for the US and Israel to do exactly what Israel did to Gaza to Iran.

Edit: Everyone just purposely misunderstanding my comment below.

(1) I never said or implied the 80k number was from a credible source.

(2) I sure as hell never said it was the guardian.

(3) Pointing to "more" credible sources on the numbers is not related to my comment. All sources at this point are SIGNIFICANTLY less credible than the very conservative "Hamas Run Health" numbers that all of you libs discredited for over a year. Stop getting excited at death tolls that, at this point, only serve to justify MORE death at the hands of US intervention.

(4) Any number printed by western media or it's organizations should be questioned BECAUSE of their aligned interest with Israel and the interest of American Imperialism. Iran is NOT a US Ally like Israel. Any coverage of its REAL human rights violations will be reported in the same way it would Hamas.

(5) The Iranian people are my concern. The people using "death tolls" to further US intervention are the same idiots that would have supported the invasion of Iraq. And yes, this includes the "sources" inside Iran begging Trump to come bomb their country with freedom.

I was literally simply saying that at the time of the protests and Internet blackouts that the media went spreading unverified numbers to grab clicks. One of which had it as high as 80k. A number spread on social media and printed as a "some say" in garbage outlets that just wanted to get clicks for numbers.

I provided two sources of this bogus claim below. And I never meant it more than a comment about how false information spreads online. Especially when it favors the narrative of a demented old man we call a president.

Fucking liberals are are so war hungry that they are more focused on nitpicking a comment critizing the spread of pro war propaganda that they'll be upset when you point it out.

I was in the same spot in 2023 trying to explain what lead to October 7th. In 2-3 years maybe you'll understand why you should be critical of any reports and justifications for US intervention. Whether that number is 20k or 80k. You're missing the fucking point.

DOES USA INTERVENTION MAKE IRANIANS LIVES BETTER?

Iraq and many other countries can tell you that answer.

[-] couldhavebeenyou@lemmy.zip 9 points 4 months ago

Where did you get that report? Most I saw was 30k over 3 weeks

[-] wheezy@lemmy.ml 3 points 4 months ago

To be clear. I wasn't saying it was credible.

https://x.com/i/status/2014484450315293173

This was the one going around at the time I was talking about. I know there were articles at the time citing this as evidence as well. But, it looks like that's been purged from most articles.

I know that number was spoken on Fox News as well at some point. But I'd have to dig for the clip. Just the usual, "some reports saying as high as 80,000" vague propaganda from a guest interview.

[-] couldhavebeenyou@lemmy.zip 6 points 4 months ago

Ok but you said you saw a report and now you're linking me a tweet

Can you link us the actual report?

[-] wheezy@lemmy.ml 1 points 4 months ago* (last edited 4 months ago)

I'm not sure why you are acting like I'm the one that said there was a valid verifiable report of this. My initial comment was literally talking about how people were lying about the numbers and saying it was "reported as 80,000"

This was the propaganda going around Twitter. A "report" can literally just be someone from inside Iran reporting on it. Which is exactly what that tweet was.

Maybe I worded my comment poorly? I was pointing to the absurdity of a number like 80,000 being taken seriously. And now for some reason you want a verified report of that? I'm so confused.

[-] couldhavebeenyou@lemmy.zip 6 points 4 months ago

Why would you say

how can anyone print that number?

when no one printed it?

You're using it to back up someone saying we can't "trust the murderous media" but it's just lies

[-] wheezy@lemmy.ml 2 points 4 months ago

Look dude. Just because you were not paying attention to articles at the time doesn't mean I'm wrong.

https://www.reddit.com/r/NewIran/s/mEVnnKEJ4w

This same shit was spreading around social media and many news outlets printed "some estimates inside Iran put the number at 80,000".

It was bull shit and every single outlet that printed it has modified their reports since. I'm not sure why it's so hard for you to believe that the media grabbed the largest number they could and ran with it for a day.

I've shown you where this number came from. It's not "just a post on Twitter". It was from inside the country during a total internet blackout. The media ate it up for a day because there was nothing else coming out of Iran at the time.

Why is this so hard to understand? What evidence are you looking for? Because it's gonna be tweets or "way back machine" articles from Fox/NewsMax or Israeli newspapers. I'll find them tonight if I have time. But you are just as capable of looking.

Yes, believe it or not, I made a comment about something that I literally saw happening in real time and didn't bookmark. Fuck me right?

[-] couldhavebeenyou@lemmy.zip 3 points 4 months ago

Reddit/NewIran

with source... just a post on twitter

It was bull shit and every single outlet that printed it has modified their reports since.

If this claim is correct it'd indeed be easy to prove using the Internet Archive. If you're watching NewsMax and telling us it's proof we shouldn't trust the press then... yeah

Looks to me like you've been duped by Khamenei's alt account on twitter and concluded you should look away and go back to sleep

[-] wheezy@lemmy.ml 1 points 4 months ago* (last edited 4 months ago)

Yes. That was literally my point mate. That news outlets lie and print shit that isn't confirmed. Thanks for understanding my initial comment this deep into the thread.

I wasn't "duped". I was literally pointing out the bull shit coverage in my first comment.

I never once said I thought that number was real or that I believed the outlets that spread it.

[-] couldhavebeenyou@lemmy.zip 2 points 4 months ago* (last edited 4 months ago)

Your point was that you backed someone saying we shouldn't trust the reporting for The Guardian on on this issue by saying "It's insane. I saw a report saying 80k. How can anyone print that number"

When in reality what you saw was... a twitter post.

Do you think it's fair to sow distrust for the credibility of the article in the OP because you read something on twitter by someone else?

I'm sure you'll continue to try to twist this away from that initial post towards how what you really meant is that you didn't believe "all the [other] outlets that spread it!" (which you conveniently don't have time for to dig up lol). The best thing I can hope for is that you look away from your screen for a minute and ask yourself the question why you felt compelled to 'massage the message'

[-] wheezy@lemmy.ml 2 points 4 months ago

You win! You made it to the bottom of the useless comment thread of one person making an assumption that was never said. It's fucking exhausting. You deserve a break. Get some water and go stretch.

[-] wonderingwanderer@sopuli.xyz 2 points 4 months ago* (last edited 4 months ago)

Instead of cherrypicking non-credible sources so you can point to the absurd numbers they claim, why don't you check some credible sources to see what the actual numbers are?

For instance, from Amnesty International:

On 17 January, in a public speech, Ali Khamenei, the Supreme Leader, said “thousands of people” were killed. Since then, on 21January, Iran’s Supreme Council of National Security issued a statement that 3,117 people were killed during the uprising. However, on 16 January 2026, the UN Special Rapporteur on Iran, Mai Sato, said in a media interview that at least 5,000 people had been killed, noting that according to information she received from medical sources, the death toll might be as high as 20,000 . Due to the ongoing internet shutdown, the scale of mass killings that took place and Iranian authorities’ well-documented pattern of carrying out reprisals against families of victims who speak out, the true number of those killed is likely higher.

this post was submitted on 23 Feb 2026
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