"Tehran Pasteur incident": MEK claims “major operation” with figures and names, while state outlets downplay amid fear of renewed unrest

The fallout continues over what the PMOI/MEK describes as a “direct operation and clashes” in Tehran’s heavily secured Pasteur district near Khamenei-linked compounds, as state-aligned outlets and security-linked media move to deny or minimize the incident, producing sharply conflicting narratives.

In statements attributed to its “internal network” and field command, the MEK says the confrontation led to “more than 100” of its members being killed or arrested, while “over 150” who took part returned safely to their bases. The group also claims “heavy enemy casualties” inside the compound without final figures, and alleges sustained ambulance traffic into the complex until midday Monday.

In what opposition supporters describe as a key credibility marker, the MEK later said it had compiled and “sent the names and identifying details” of additional “killed, missing, and detained” individuals linked to the incident to the UN Special Rapporteur and relevant international bodies, urging urgent follow-up to disclose fate and whereabouts and to prevent any enforced disappearance. The claims appear amid broader UN human-rights pressure on Tehran to disclose the fate of detainees and missing persons after nationwide protests.

State media pushed back forcefully. Reports relaying Tasnim’s position insisted “not a single bullet” was fired in the area and suggested any detentions—if any—would be routine. Mehr advanced a separate account portraying the story as manufactured “noise,” claiming the matter ended with police patrol arrests and rejecting the notion of a major operation.

Yet the denials are complicated by language from “Bultan News,” widely viewed as close to conservative/security circles, which explicitly referenced “repeated explosions” around Pasteur Street and asked pointedly how an “enemy” could dare to reach “the heart of Tehran”—a framing many interpret as an inadvertent acknowledgment that an unusual security event did occur.

Speculation also rose after Rouydad24 reported a leadership change in the IRGC Ground Force special unit “Saberin” during the same period of Pasteur-related reporting. While no official link has been confirmed, the timing fueled questions about internal security repercussions.

Bottom line: The MEK is presenting the Pasteur episode as a confirmed, major operation—backed, it says, by figures, names, and referrals to UN-linked channels—while the authorities deny and attempt to shrink the story amid sensitivity to its potential street impact. Meanwhile, IRGC-adjacent references to “repeated explosions,” combined with coinciding special-unit changes, keep the core question alive: what exactly happened in Pasteur, and how large was it?