Iran's SNSC Rejects Reuters Report on Death Toll of Recent Riots

Alireza Zarifian Yeganeh, head of the SNSC's Communication and Information Center, categorically rejected the "untrue report", describing it as a completely unreliable claim, which will result in nothing but to mar the reputation and credibility of the UK-based agency.

“Producing such pieces [of unfounded] news and claims is not difficult. It only takes following a predetermined framework within a purposeful psychological operation,” he said, adding that “when you ask this agency to provide documents or sources [of its news], it refers you to some invisible being that is impossible to verify.”

Zarifian Yeganeh noted that shortly after the riots broke out, the Leader of Islamic Revolution Ayatollah Seyyed Ali Khamenei tasked the Supreme National Security Council with immediate reporting of the issue and sympathizing with the families and relatives of those killed in the riots.

Earlier on Monday, Reuters quoted three unnamed sources that about 1,500 people were killed during less than two weeks of unrest that started on November 15 in Iran over government’s decision to hike the price of gasoline.

Reuters also quoted a statement by the US State Department that claimed the number of people killed in the unrests could exceed 1,000.

However, just like many other occasions, the agency tried to make its report look credible by quoting anonymouse sources.