On Dec. 28, protests began in Iran in response to the local currency, the rial, reaching its record low valuation. The protests quickly spread across the country, and despite their economic origins, they grew to call for significant political change.
Many protestors demanded an end to the current regime, which has been in power for 47 years. The protests escalated Jan. 8-9, during which, Internet access was restricted for millions within the country.
Given the high US–Iran tensions in recent years, especially after the conflict in June 2025, there was significant external, as well as internal, pressure for Iran as President Trump hinted at military action. Online, Trump urged Iranians to continue protesting, writing, “HELP IS ON ITS WAY.” However, no military action was undertaken.
While the Internet was shut down in Iran, reports from international human rights organizations and media outlets indicate that security forces responded with force to protestors, whom the government describes as foreign provocateurs.
The resulting situation, which is still not entirely certain due to the continued Internet outage, saw thousands of deaths, acknowledged by both rights organizations and the Iranian government. The actual number is disputed; Iranian state media estimates around 3,000, while international estimates range from close to 7,000 into the tens of thousands.
Shaya Khosravi (11), says, “I don’t have any news about [my] family members [in Iran being injured] … I really hope that everybody is safe. [There’s a lot] of stress that it’s put on my family and it’s put on all Iranians living everywhere. I open my phone every day. I check ‘Iran news’ every hour after I get out of class. I check in the hopes of seeing if maybe something has changed. It’s pretty stressful.”
The news coming out of Iran has concerned the diaspora community, causing solidarity protests across the world as many feel that the international community is not doing enough to respond to the situation.
Khosravi says, “It’s absolutely crazy that in a world like this, a world so technologically advanced, a world so economically and socially advanced, things like that are happening and it’s not getting enough attention paid to it.”
“What’s unacceptable is how little Western media has been covering this stuff. You’ve only got very limited outlets, you’ve got a couple things on Fox, maybe a couple things on CNN, BBC, whatever it is, but people are not covering this as much as they should.”
To many abroad, the developments in Iran can feel distant, but to those with family and cultural ties, the impact is very real.
“What we have right now [here in the US], we just think, ‘Oh, it’s just our basic things that we have, it’s not that big of a deal’ — [Iranians] wish for that. They wish to have normal circumstances.”
Verified reports from the last few weeks remain limited due to restricted internet access, but the protests have largely been quelled. Additionally, the ongoing US–Iran talks in Oman mark a potential departure from Trump’s hints of military involvement.
