Protesters attend a rally in Zuerich, Switzerland, Tuesday, in help of the mass demonstrations in Iran in opposition to the federal government. Nationwide anti-government protests, triggered by financial disaster and political repression, have taken place throughout Iran since December 2025, regardless of heavy crackdowns. EPA-Yonhap
Amid intensifying and infrequently lethal crackdowns on anti-government demonstrations in Tehran and round Iran, some Iranian residents in Korea are pleading for each Korean authorities and citizen help for the Iranian folks.
For Niusha, an Iranian nationwide who has lived in Korea for six years, the present disaster has sparked questions on Korea’s function in worldwide affairs.
“I selected Korea as a result of I believed in its dedication to human dignity,” Niusha instructed The Korea Instances in a written interview. “However it’s surprising to see a G7-level democracy stay silent whereas our individuals are being massacred.”
She pointed to the stark distinction between Seoul’s warning and the substantive diplomatic actions taken by different main democracies, together with Canada, France and Germany, and urged Korea to chop ties with the present regime.
“Korea is a rustic that gained democracy by sacrifice,” stated Sarah, one other Iranian who has lived right here for eight years, who requested to be recognized utilizing an alias. “For that very purpose, I sincerely hope it’ll neither stay silent nor stand by as a spectator. I earnestly ask that the Korean authorities and civil society stand on the aspect of the Iranian people who find themselves demanding freedom, not on the aspect of an oppressive regime.”
Layla, additionally an alias, who has referred to as Korea residence for a decade, echoed that view.
“I consider essentially the most fundamental assist Korea can supply is to not less than take away the Iranian Embassy in Korea, withdraw the Korean Embassy from Iran and lower financial and political ties with this brutal authorities.”
Iranians attend an anti-government protest in Tehran, Iran, Friday. AP-Yonhap
They declare the worldwide neighborhood is mischaracterizing the scenario by calling it a “protest.”
“The largest mistake is asking this a ‘protest’ over financial points,” Sarah defined. “This can be a revolution. It’s a nationwide rejection of a system that has suppressed us for almost half a century.”
They are saying the present rebellion follows earlier crackdowns, together with in opposition to the November 2019 gasoline protests and the “Ladies, Life, Freedom” motion triggered by the dying of Mahsa Amini in 2022.
In every occasion, the Iranian state lower off the nation’s digital community to obscure the dimensions of crackdowns, based on stories from Amnesty Worldwide and the web watchdog NetBlocks.
Mourners, sitting subsequent to coffins throughout a funeral procession for members of safety forces and civilians stated to be killed in protests, Sunday, react to evolving anti-government unrest in Tehran, Iran, on this screengrab from a video. Reuters-Yonhap
Gwangju legacy
The interviewees urged Korea to supply solidarity based mostly by itself democratic historical past. Layla linked the 1980 Gwangju pro-democracy rebellion to the present scenario in Tehran.
“The youth of Iran are standing earlier than weapons, shouting for a similar freedom that Koreans fought for many years in the past,” she stated. “As a rustic constructed on the ruins of dictatorship, Korea has an ethical obligation to not look away. We’re asking the folks of Gwangju’s legacy to be our voice whereas we’re being silenced.”
The silencing is literal. As of Wednesday, whereas some worldwide landlines have reportedly been restored, web in Iran stays offline.
Whereas the Iranian authorities claims there have been round 2,000 casualties, Persian-language media and human rights organizations report a determine nearer to 12,000.
Via fragmented messages and calls routed by unstable strains, Iranians right here in Korea have discovered accounts that not often seem in headlines. “I heard that some households should pay enormous sums simply to obtain the our bodies of their family members,” Niusha stated. “In different instances, authorities gained’t permit funerals, or they quietly bury folks at night time with out telling the household.
A lady walks previous a mural of a dove in Tehran, Iran, on this April 25, 2024, file picture. EPA-Yonhap
‘Be our voice’
All three interviewees stated the most typical plea they obtain from inside Iran is easy: “Be our voice.”
“Earlier than the blackout, my pals stored telling me, ‘Please inform folks what is occurring. Don’t let the world neglect us,’” Sarah stated. “I can not battle there with them, however I can communicate right here.”
“Folks inside and outdoors Iran are utilizing the transient moments when the web connects to not trade private updates, however to let the surface world know what is absolutely taking place in Iran,” Niusha stated. “Greater than something, when the strains lastly open, the primary phrases I wish to hear are, ‘We gained.’”
Regardless of their worry, every shared a vivid hope for the day they return residence.
“The very first thing I wish to hear is my mom and father’s voices once more,” Layla stated.
For Sarah, freedom appears quite simple. “No gunshots. No worry of raids at night time. Simply households holding one another on the street with out worrying somebody is watching. I need Koreans to know: Iranians should not harmful folks. We’re educated, peaceable and courageous — and proper now, we’re asking you to face on the best aspect of historical past with us.”
The Korea Instances reached out to the Embassy of the Islamic Republic of Iran in Seoul for remark, however officers weren’t instantly obtainable.
The embassy’s official web site has additionally been taken offline. Whereas the error message claims “present process scheduled upkeep and upgrades,” tech consultants contacted by The Korea Instances stated it is a direct results of the regime’s whole web blackout, which has disconnected home authorities servers from the worldwide internet.
