No, there aren't independent sources for that estimate, and we do not even know if it is close to that.

That number was simply made up and comes from Iran International, a Mossad-funded Pahlavist site.

Additionally, the Iranian government states that 2-3,000 were killed, mostly from Mossad-armed insurrectionists killing Iranian police.

So who are you going to believe? Israel, or Iran?

The vast majority of people trust the Iranian government over the Israeli regime.

To be charitable, it is prima facie weird that that this seems to be the one thing we do know for sure. Literally every other detail here seems to be trapped in a black box or uncertainty, except for this. First the US blew up all the nuclear last year, then it turns they were days away. They were out of missiles a week ago, and then they werent at all. We were so sure about "the appetite for rebellion" among the people, until we weren't.

I guess you just have to reflect on how nice it is that the one thing we know for sure aligns with an ongoing justification for all the bad stuff that needs to happen! It's funny how it works like that, but we have to take their word for it.

I remember seeing those maps pointing to the WMDs in Iraq on NYT. I remember when it was unspeakable to be critical of the narrative. All you can do, I guess, is hope that they wouldn't do that again, believe that this time its different.

They are still amateurs compared to the IDF:

"Israeli military reportedly acknowledges 70,000 killed in Gaza after previously casting doubt on health ministry’s count" - https://edition.cnn.com/2026/01/30/middleeast/israeli-milita...