Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi addressed the matter publicly on social media, stating that of the 3,117 deaths acknowledged by the state, 690 were categorized as terrorists, while the rest were described as citizens and security personnel. This breakdown attempted to provide statistical clarity, yet it also reinforced the state’s binary framing: legitimate defenders and innocent civilians on one side, violent insurgents on the other. The precision of the figure — 3,117 — suggested careful accounting, but it did not quell controversy.
Human rights organizations have presented sharply different assessments. The Human Rights Activists News Agency (HRANA) reported that approximately 7,000 deaths have been identified so far, with more than 11,000 additional cases under investigation. Meanwhile, a Norway-based human rights group focusing on the country has estimated that the death toll from the 2015 protests may have reached as high as 25,000. These numbers far exceed official counts and indicate a profound gap between state and independent narratives.
