Black Friday revisited: disinformation, misinformation, and the politics of memory at Tehran’s Jaleh Square

The events of September 8, 1978, in Iran, commonly known as ‘Black Friday’, have long been portrayed as a mass killing of peaceful protesters by the Shah’s regime, with widely cited death tolls ranging from several hundred to several thousand. However, this article presents a comprehensive reassessment of the incident at Jaleh Square in Tehran, arguing that the dominant narrative is rooted more in disinformation and misinformation than verifiable fact. Drawing on official records from the Imperial Iranian Government, post-revolutionary data compiled by the Islamic Republic’s own Martyrs Foundation, the article establishes that approximately 58–64 people were killed in the incident thus contradicting inflated figures disseminated by opposition groups, amplified by Western media, and institutionalized in scholarly literature. The article further examines how disinformation campaigns, journalistic failures, and ideological biases contributed to the construction and persistence of the ‘massacre’ narrative, which continues to serve the Islamic Republic’s political agenda to this day. Through this case study, the article underscores the need for critical scrutiny in reporting and historiography, particularly when unverified claims shape national memory and influence political legitimacy.