Iran denies reports of 30,000 protest deaths

Iran’s Foreign Ministry spokesperson Esmaeil Baghaei denied claims that 30,000 people have died in protests across the country.

In a post on X, the diplomat compared the allegations to “Hitler-style” false statements and accused the country’s opponents of attempting to falsify events, Caliber.Az reports.

A Hitler-style BIG LIE: isn't this the number they planned to kill in the streets of Iran?!
They failed, though, and now they're trying to FAKE it in the media. Truly vicious! pic.twitter.com/unbqVKEUzJ

— Esmaeil Baqaei (@IRIMFA_SPOX) January 25, 2026

“They failed, though, and now they're trying to FAKE it in the media. Truly vicious!" he said. 

Earlier, TIME, a US-based journal, published leaked figures from Iran’s Ministry of Health, suggesting that as many as 30,000 people may have died during two days of peak protest violence on January 8–9, according to hospital data.

Credible human‑rights monitoring groups and journalists report significantly lower but still serious confirmed fatalities: for example, the US‑based Human Rights Activists News Agency (HRANA) verified over 4,500 deaths, noting thousands more under investigation amid communications blackouts that hinder data collection.

According to Iranian government sources, about 3,117 people, including security forces, have been killed, but independent observers widely view this figure as an undercount due to limited transparency and varying external tallies.

By Jeyhun Aghazada