What does this mean when they lost every game:

The above is about the media’s bizarre language – not the Iranian team. Glad they were able to play.

Then this – both “remarkable” and “heartbreaking”?

While their playing was “heart breaking”, what was this?

Death Toll Estimates Regarding Protesters and Others In Iran

• Iranian government: Acknowledged 3,117 deaths (including some security forces). Widely viewed as a significant undercount. amnesty.org
• HRANA (U.S.-based Human Rights Activists News Agency, with verification processes and named lists): By February 2026, documented ~7,007 verified deaths (including ~6,488 protesters, minors, and others), with thousands more under review. This is one of the more methodical tallies from activist networks inside Iran. en.wikipedia.org
• UN experts/Special Rapporteur: Noted the official figure vs. “tens of thousands” from human rights groups; true scale hard to determine due to blackouts, reprisals against families, and restricted access. Suggested it could reach 5,000–20,000+ based on medical sources. amnesty.org
• Higher estimates (30,000–40,000+): Circulated by Iran International (reported ~36,500 based on claimed leaked documents/medical sources), opposition figures (e.g., linked to Maryam Rajavi or Reza Pahlavi), some doctors’ networks, and amplified by Western politicians like Donald Trump. These emerged quickly post-crackdown but lack transparent methodology, named lists, or independent corroboration. Critics (including analyses in Zeteo and others) describe them as unverified, tied to regime-change narratives, and potentially inflated for political impact. zeteo.com

Amnesty International and others documented mass unlawful killings.

The Iranian regime’s crackdown was brutal and killed thousands of its own people—likely in the mid-to-high thousands based on the best-documented estimates—qualifying as one of the deadliest recent suppressions.