Mai Sato, the UN Special Rapporteur on Human Rights in Iran, warned about the scale of human casualties during the Iranian national revolution and stated that existing estimates could be much higher than initial figures. He explained that initial assessments indicate the death toll to be around five thousand or more, but information received from doctors inside the country suggests that the number of victims may have reached at least 20,000. This UN official emphasized that the discrepancy between official statistics and field reports has raised serious concerns about the extent of violence and the actual number of casualties.