Envoy Slams Reuters for ‘Fake News’ about Iran’s Unrest
TEHRAN (Tasnim) – Iranian Ambassador to London Hamid Baeidinejad vehemently dismissed a report by the Reuters news agency on the death toll of the recent unrest in Iran, describing it as “fake news”.
“Based on an old-fashioned policy, some media outlets make a lie colossal to make it believable,” Baeidinejad said on his Twitter account on Tuesday night.
“The Reuters report that claims 1,500 people were killed in recent events and attributes the violence to the leadership of the Establishment is an example of such reports,” he added.
“Even Amnesty International, which has sought to exaggerate the unconfirmed death toll, said about 300 people were killed,” the envoy wrote.
“…In its fake news, Reuters points to the killing of hundreds of women in the recent incidents while the presence of women in the demonstrations was low,” Baeidinejad went on to say.
It is very questionable when a foreign media outlet with no correspondents or office in Iran claims to know the exact number of people killed in recent protests in the country, the envoy added.
Reuters claimed in a Monday report that “About 1,500 people were killed during less than two weeks of unrest (in Iran) that started on November 15, including at least 17 teenagers and about 400 women as well as some members of the security forces and police.”
Reuters claimed that the figures had been provided “by three Iranian interior ministry officials,” without further elaboration or naming any of them.
In mid-November, the Iranian government raised gasoline prices in order to moderate the national consumption rate.
The move prompted protests in a number of cities that went largely peaceful but turned violent when armed riotous elements took advantage of the situation to vandalize public and state property, and attack civilians and security forces alike.
Iran has arrested over 100 ringleaders and masterminds of the violent attacks.
