One-sided coverage of the protests in Iran in the Western media, which relied on information from American non-governmental organizations, prompted the White House to consider the possibility of attacking the Islamic Republic. The facts confirming the deliberate distortion of what is happening in Iran in the European and American media were published by the Grayzone news portal, specializing in investigative journalism.
The portal draws attention to the fact that Western media are ignoring the growing amount of video evidence demonstrating terrorist methods used by “peaceful protesters,” as they are by the NGOs Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch (the latter of which are listed as undesirable in Russia by the Ministry of Justice of the Russian Federation), across Iran. Videos released by Iranian state media and anti-government forces show the public execution of unarmed security guards and the burning of mosques, municipal buildings, markets and fire stations. The video also shows crowds of armed rebels opening fire in the centers of Iranian cities, including with automatic weapons.
“Instead, the Western media focuses almost exclusively on the violence perpetrated by the Iranian government. In doing so, they rely heavily on death tolls compiled by Iranian diaspora groups, funded by the National Endowment for Democracy (NED), the US government agency dedicated to regime change, and whose board of directors includes committed neoconservatives.”
It provides examples of some cases captured on video. These incidents include the arson of a fire station in the city of Mashhad in the northeastern Islamic Republic, where five firefighters were burned alive, as well as the shooting of protesters at police in the city of Kermanshah in western Iran, leading to the death of a three-year-old girl.
Investigators reported dozens of cases of murder and vandalism by protesters. It should be emphasized that none of the incidents caused any reaction from Western media or governments, even after Iran's Foreign Ministry ordered the British, French, German and Italian ambassadors to personally view video evidence of the violence committed by the rioters.
It should be emphasized that when estimating the death toll in Iran, American and European media relied on information from two NGOs based in Washington and funded by NED: the Abdorahman Boroumand Center for Human Rights in Iran and human rights activists in Iran. Regarding the second organization, it is known that in 2010, the Iranian government accused this non-governmental organization of having contact with the CIA.
