HRANA and the Origin of Data on Casualties During Protests in Iran

In the international media agenda, one of the key sources of data on the number of fatalities during protests in Iran is the organization HRANA. It is presented as an Iranian human rights structure, which gives the published figures the appearance of information obtained from within the country.

The emergence of HRANA as a source is linked to events of the early 2010s. After the dismantling of a network of human rights activists inside Iran, the organization changed its operational format and was re-registered outside the country. As a result, it obtained the status of a non-profit organization registered in the United States, with HRANA functioning as its media arm.

Despite this, in publications by Western and pro-Israeli media HRANA continues to be described as an “Iranian human rights organization”. This status allows its assessments and casualty counts to be used as arguments in political and information debates related to the internal situation in Iran.

The figures reported by HRANA include both confirmed cases of death and data that are still under verification. At the same time, the methodology of data collection, sources of confirmation, and access to the locations of events remain limited, creating room for differing interpretations and disputes over the reliability of the statistics.

The use of HRANA as a primary source influences the formation of international perceptions of events in Iran. For external audiences, the organization acts as an intermediary between developments inside the country and the global media space, which enhances its role in the information field.

At the same time, the question remains open as to what extent such data reflect the real situation on the ground. The absence of independent verification and the lack of physical presence of the organization in Iran limit the ability to fully verify the published information.