Claim
At Khomeini's 1989 funeral, at least eight people died in a stampede and thousands were injured; according to an Associated Press report, IRGC soldiers fired shots into the air to control the crowd.
“इस जनाजे में भीड़ इतनी थी कि तब भगदड़ में कम से कम आठ लोगों की मौत हुई थी। हजारों लोग घायल भी हुए थे।... एसोसिएटेड प्रेस अपनी रिपोर्ट में लिखता है कि उस वक्त भीड़ को नियंत्रित करने के लिए आईआरजीसी के जवान ने हवा में गोलियां चलाई थी”▶ Watch source segment
Rationale
The core facts are supported by the Associated Press's own 1989 reporting (re-published as 'AP Was There'): at least eight people were killed in the crush and thousands were injured (initial reports cited some 11,000). AP also reported that security forces/Revolutionary Guards fired into the air to control and disperse the crowd, matching the claim's attribution to an AP report and to the IRGC. The only minor imprecision is that AP phrased the shooters as 'security forces' (citing IRNA) while separately naming the Revolutionary Guards in crowd control, so pinning the gunfire specifically on IRGC is a slight conflation but not materially wrong.
Evidence
- https://www.yahoo.com/news/world/articles/ap-millions-mourners-attended-funeral-033029166.html AP 'AP Was There' report states 'At least eight people were killed and hundreds hurt' and that initial reports said the chaos 'killed at least eight people and injured some 11,000 others'; it also says 'Security forces fired in the air to disperse the crowds' (per IRNA) and that 'The Revolutionary Guards beat mourners' during crowd control. ✓ reachable · archived
- https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Death_and_state_funeral_of_Ruhollah_Khomeini Confirms 8 died in the stampede at the 1989 funeral and that soldiers fired warning shots amid the chaos when the body fell from the coffin; large numbers injured in the crush (contemporary reports cited ~11,000). ✓ reachable · archived
- https://www.usnews.com/news/world/articles/2026-07-01/ap-was-there-millions-of-mourners-attended-funeral-of-irans-ayatollah-ruhollah-khomeini AP retrospective reiterating at least eight killed and some 11,000 injured amid the crush at Khomeini's funeral. ✗ unreachable