Iran Killed A MILLION Protesters! (Or maybe not)

New column - The secret source of the "Iran kills" numbers

By Lee Camp

As the US manufactures consent for another imperial war — this time on Iraq, no Libya, no Syria, no Venezuela, no Afghanistan, no Yemen, wait, no, sorry, Iran (I think that’s it) — you certainly have seen the headlines about the hundreds — nay, thousands, nay, tens of thousands, nay, MILLIONS — of protesters that the Iranian government has killed.

Here’s a standard example from the New York Times article, Iran Killed Thousands of Protesters — Here Are Five of Their Stories.

“According to Human Rights Activists in Iran, a Washington-based organization, more than 6,200 people were killed, most of them protesters.”

Sixty-two hundred?! Good god!

Now, let’s ignore the fact that Mossad has admitted publicly that they’re on the ground with the protesters. Let’s ignore the fact that the US has admitted creating these protests using economic sanctions (read: economic war). And let’s ignore the fact that none of our mainstream news outlets seem nearly as concerned about the genocide that continues in Gaza.

Let’s ignore all of that and instead ask a rather simple question — Where again did the 6,200-dead number come from? The NY Times quotes an organization called Human Rights Activists in Iran. Well, that must be legit. It’s human rights activists inside Iran. They certainly must know more than us way over in the United States.

Ummm, excuse me. Quick follow-up. Where in Iran is that org located?

Ah yes — it’s “a Washington-based organization.” So it’s in Washington DC, Iran? Washington DC, Iran is a wonderful city. A really unique culture there.

That’s right. This is an organization called “Human Rights Activists in Iran” and it’s based outside Washington DC. So they lie to you in their name. Much like “Military Intelligence” or Trump’s “Board of Peace”. I think lying in the name is kind of a red flag.

And who exactly are the activists in this organization? As Alan MacLeod writes:

“Human Rights Activists in Iran is bankrolled by the Central Intelligence Agency, through its cutout organization, the National Endowment for Democracy (NED). Established in 2006, Human Rights Activists in Iran is based in Fairfax, Virginia, just a stone’s throw away from CIA headquarters in Langley.”

Oh, it’s the CIA! And they put it next door to CIA headquarters for an easy commute. (No one likes a long commute to work.) I mean, gosh, who wouldn’t believe the numbers a CIA cutout is telling us?

But hold on. I’m getting carried away. That’s not the only organization pumping out these grandiose numbers of dead protesters. Here’s from NPR:

“The death toll from ongoing protests in Iran has surpassed 6,000, according to the U.S.-based Human Rights Activists News Agency.”

There you go — proof! And here’s from the Washington Post:

“…the U.S.-based Human Rights Activists News Agency …said the 6,221 dead included at least 5,858 protesters…”

So this is a different group than that CIA/NED-funded Human Rights Activists in Iran and they too say over 6,000 have been killed. Are you ready to give up and admit that number is accurate, Mr. Conspiracy Theorist?? …Well, maybe we should ask who this other group is (just for funsies).

Back to Alan MacLeod:

“…Human Rights Activists in Iran… and its media arm, the Human Rights Activists News Agency (HRANA) have become the go-to group of experts for Western media…”

Oooooohhhh… So it’s that same CIA group we already talked about except they added “news agency” to their name? It’s basically the blog of the first group?!

And in case you think I and MintPress are making up that they’re funded by the NED (an admitted CIA cutout), you can just read their website. It says:

“…because the organization seeks to remain independent, it doesn’t accept financial aid from neither political groups nor governments. …HRAI has also been accepting donations from National Endowment for Democracy (NED)...”

Yeah, we’re an independent unbiased group! …Funded by a CIA cutout.

But let’s do one more group. The Center for Human Rights in Iran (CHRI), which has also been widely cited by the mainstream corporate pro-war outlets.

“...the CHRI has been the source of many of the goriest and most lurid stories coming out of Iran…”

Finally! An Iranian organization in Iran that is not funded by the CIA.

Back to MacLeod:

“The CHRI – an Iranian human rights group based in New York City and Washington, D.C. – was identified by the government of China as directly funded by the NED.”

Errr… I meant to say not in Iran. And likely also funded/controlled by US regime-change orgs. …BUT that info comes from China. We can’t trust them.

However, as MacLeod points out, there are connections which bolster the claim from China.

“...CHRI board member, Mehrangiz Kar, is a former Reagan-Fascell Democracy Fellow at the NED. And in 2002 at a star-studded gala on Capitol Hill, First Lady Laura Bush and future president Joe Biden presented Kar with the NED’s annual Democracy Award.”

So yet again — in bed with NED. (It’s a big bed.)

Look, I’m not saying the Iranian government has not killed any protesters. But I am saying the US destroyed the economy of Iran, helped create the protests, funded and armed protesters, then put out fake numbers from CIA-backed orgs saying a billion protesters were killed. Now the US wants to use those fake numbers to bomb Iran and plunge tens of millions of people into a living hell.

The empire’s playbook is not new. Once you’ve read it, you’ll know what’s actually happening every time it happens — Over and over and over and over again.