While Western human rights organizations accuse the Iranian authorities of all killings during the recent unrest, new reports coming from Israeli sources and Iranian state media suggest a different, far bloodier picture of events in which foreign factors play a key role.
A journalist from Israel’s Channel 14, a media outlet close to Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, put forward claims that align with Tehran’s accusations that the unrest is being orchestrated from abroad. Tamir Morag, the channel’s diplomatic correspondent, stated that “foreign actors are arming demonstrators in Iran with live ammunition.”
Israelis on operations inside Iran
Morag claims that it is precisely this arming that explains the “hundreds of killed members of regime personnel,” adding pointedly: “Anyone can freely guess who stands behind this.”
Channel 14 is otherwise known for promoting the narratives of Israel’s security apparatus and for its hardline stance toward Iran.
Amichai Eliyahu, Israel’s minister of heritage, previously stated that Israeli agents are “currently operating” inside Iran in order to weaken the country’s capacities.
Former United States (U.S.) Secretary of State and CIA director Mike Pompeo wrote on January 3rd on the platform X (formerly Twitter) that Iran is in trouble, mentioning “every Mossad agent walking alongside Iranian demonstrators in the streets.”
Tehran: “A massacre of civilians and ISIS-style methods”
On the other hand, Iranian media are publishing horrific details about the violence, claiming that most of the victims are in fact civilians and members of the security forces who were attacked by “terrorist groups.”
According to media reports, more than two-thirds of those killed have been classified as “martyrs” (shahids). The head of the Foundation for Martyrs and Veterans Affairs described the violence as extreme, stating that civilians and security personnel were killed with military and hunting weapons, as well as with knives, axes, and other brutal methods. Identification of the bodies is difficult because many victims were burned, beheaded, or suffocated.
Iranian media reported the violence “in the style of ISIL,” including executions and throat-cutting; burning people alive; bomb attacks, and the torching of mosques.
Furthermore, according to intelligence assessments and alleged confessions of groups linked to Mossad, it was reported that the strategy was “kill-manufacturing” in order to escalate the unrest. They emphasize that the largest number of deaths occurred the day after Donald Trump threatened military intervention.
Iranian sources claim that among the victims, besides unarmed members of the Basij and the police, were mostly ordinary passersby. Among those reportedly killed are a three-year-old child, a 70-year-old man, a taxi driver, a student, and a nurse who was burned alive.
While Western human rights groups and opposition platforms claim that every victim was killed by the Iranian government, the convergence of claims by Israeli officials about “agents on the ground” and Iranian reports about “armed groups” raises new questions about the nature of the conflict on the streets of Iran.
