The release of the video comes as Iranian officials sought to counter what they described as a distorted international narrative after Iran’s foreign minister was disinvited from the World Economic Forum in Davos.
The video, posted on X by Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi, presents Iran’s account of events, stressing that early demonstrations over rising living costs were peaceful and based on legitimate economic grievances.
It begins with a graphic violence warning and shows chaotic street scenes, including cars set on fire, gunfire, and coordinated attacks attributed to armed, masked men described as terrorists. The post could not be embedded, with X returning a “not found” message when an embed was attempted; excerpts are described here.
According to the video, the armed men fired on both security forces and protesters. It shows casualties, including ordinary Iranians, women, and children, and features officials acknowledging the people’s right to peaceful protest while distinguishing legitimate demonstrations from what they call organized, foreign-driven violence.
“There is one fundamental truth to the recent violence in Iran: We had to defend our people against armed terrorists and ISIS-style killings openly backed by Mossad,” Araghchi said in a post accompanying the video.
The footage says “bazaaris (merchants) and ordinary citizens gathered to peacefully protest rising costs” and attributes Iran’s economic hardship to what it calls America’s “economic terrorism” through “unlawful sanctions designed to suffocate Iran.”
“What happened (the protest) has nothing to do with political issues,” an Iranian citizen interviewed in the video said.
The video claims that the first 12 days of demonstrations were calm, with unarmed police and peaceful marches. It says violence erupted on the 13th day, allegedly involving Israeli intelligence operatives.
It presents screenshots and media excerpts that it says point to Israeli involvement, including posts from a Mossad Farsi-language account on X, a Jerusalem Post article, remarks by an Israeli minister saying “our agents are operating in Iran now,” and a post by former US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo referring to Mossad activity.
The video also cites a Financial Times report describing organized groups of men in Tehran setting fires and urging residents to join the unrest. One witness told the FT the men looked “like commandos” but said he did not know who was behind them.
It further accuses Western media of misrepresenting the events. The video claims that “alongside the violence, a media war was launched,” accusing “Western mainstream media outlets” of bias and saying they blamed the killings on the government.
According to the video, “executions by terrorists were blamed on security forces,” while “the victims of terror were recast as casualties of state repression.”
The footage then cuts to Iranian citizens rejecting the violence and distancing themselves from those responsible.
“They are not of the people,” an elderly Iranian man said.
“Their true aim is to throw our nation into chaos,” a woman said.
“People are upset because of this high cost of living, but people don’t do such things,” another man, standing beside a charred bus, said.
The video was released days after Araghchi was disinvited from the World Economic Forum, where he had been scheduled to speak. The WEF said it would not be “right” for him to appear due to “the loss of lives of civilians in Iran over the past few weeks.” Araghchi said the decision was based on “lies and political pressure from Israel and its US-based proxies and apologists.”
Iranian officials have repeatedly said the demonstrations were initially peaceful before being hijacked by foreign-backed violence aimed at destabilizing the country.
Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei blamed US President Donald Trump for weeks of unrest. “We consider the U.S. president criminal for the casualties, damages and slander he inflicted on the Iranian nation,” he said, according to Iranian state media.
“This was an American conspiracy,” he added, noting that “America’s goal is to swallow Iran … the goal is to put Iran back under military, political and economic domination.”
An Iranian official told Reuters that authorities had verified at least 5,000 deaths during the protests. The official said the heaviest clashes and highest toll were in Kurdish areas of north-west Iran, and that the final total was not expected to rise sharply.
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