Kindness with a bullet, official insolence in the narrative of repression

The alleged kindness of the repressive forces in the "Refugees" narrative contrasts with the killing and bloodshed on the streets of Iran.

Alireza Panahian, a spokesman for Ali Khamenei's office, presented a completely inverted picture of the reality of repression in Iran in his latest statements about the Iranian national revolution, claiming: "The special forces were very kind and advised the people without weapons." He also added: "All of our people are grateful today for the steadfastness, courage, and sacrifice of the security forces."

Panahian's words come as a flood of independent reports, images, and videos from across Iran paint a completely different narrative: direct shooting of protesters, widespread use of firearms, shots to the head and chest, nighttime raids on homes, mass arrests, and a massacre that human rights groups have described as the bloodiest crackdown in Iran's contemporary history.

Many of the videos released by the families of the dead reveal the depth of the tragedy and crime that the Islamic Republic has committed against the people of Iran; these videos show families screaming the names of their loved ones among the lifeless bodies; an issue that cannot be denied or hidden, but which the regime's agents brazenly deny.

Now, these statements by Panahian are not only inconsistent with the realities on the ground, but are also a clear example of the systematic insolence of the Islamic Republic's propaganda apparatus; an apparatus that, while blood is flowing in the streets, tries to call organized violence "fatherly advice" and deadly repression "kindness."

This narrative is being created at a time when even the current leader of the Islamic Republic, Ali Khamenei, has made rare statements acknowledging that thousands of people have been killed during the protests. This implicit admission reveals the scale of the tragedy that officials and figures like Panahian are trying to deny or whitewash, while countless families continue to trample morgues, hospitals, and cemeteries in search of the bodies of their loved ones.

Reports indicate that in many cases, the bodies of the dead were buried without the families’ knowledge or that the bodies were handed over only under conditions of security obligations and enforced silence. These facts make the claim of “public gratitude” for the forces of repression an empty and insulting claim to public suffering.

For years, Panahian has played an active role as one of the ideological mouthpieces of power, justifying violence and normalizing repression. His recent remarks are not a slip of the tongue, but a continuation of the familiar policy of distorting reality, denying the pain of victims, and legitimizing state violence; a policy that deepens the gap between the government and society and intensifies public anger.

In a situation where Iran is practically in a permanent state of security and ordinary citizens, regardless of age and gender, are targeted for repression, such statements, more than anything, demonstrate the absolute distance between those speaking and the reality of people's lives; a distance that is filled with the mass of dead, injured, detained, and grieving families and can no longer be hidden by rhetoric and distortion.