Iranians in Northern Ireland Cut Off: “How Can You Survive Without Food?
Iranians living in Northern Ireland say they are struggling to contact loved ones back home as nationwide unrest in Iran intensifies and authorities restrict internet and phone access.
The US based Human Rights Activist News Agency, known as HRANA, says it has verified the deaths of nearly 500 protesters and 48 members of the security forces. Sources speaking to the BBC say the true death toll may be far higher.
For many in the Iranian diaspora, the communications blackout has brought fear and anguish.
Families left without contact
Hamidreza Bahmani, who lives in Belfast, said his parents, brothers and sisters remain in Iran and he has been unable to reach them for days.
“The government shut down the internet and the phones,” he said. “We do not have news about them. I cannot just get information from my family anymore.”
Fatemeh Sadat Mosavi, also based in Northern Ireland, said she last spoke to relatives days before the blackout.
“I have a grandmother in Iran who was sick,” she said. “They cut the internet four days ago and I do not know how she is now.”
Protests triggered by economic collapse
Demonstrations began in late December after Iran’s currency plunged in value, driving up the cost of food, fuel and basic goods. What started as protests over prices has evolved into a broader challenge to the legitimacy of Iran’s leadership and Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.
Iranian authorities have dismissed demonstrators as vandals and accused the United States and Israel of orchestrating unrest. Officials have called for pro government marches and declared three days of mourning for what they described as martyrs killed in a national battle against foreign enemies.
Speaking on BBC Radio Ulster, Bahmani described the movement as a revolution rather than a protest.
“People are only in the streets for basic rights, freedom, and a normal life,” he said. “They are tired of a system that controls everything.”
He accused the authorities of portraying the uprising as a war and labeling protesters as terrorists.
Inflation and fear dominate daily life
Sadat Mosavi said security forces were responding with extreme violence.
“They do not care about age or anything,” she said. “Police and guards kill everyone. There is no mercy.”
She said ordinary Iranians are being crushed by inflation.
“If you do not have money to buy something to eat, how can you be alive?” she asked.
Mehdi, a student who moved from Tehran to Londonderry three months ago to begin a PhD at Ulster University, said watching events unfold from afar was heartbreaking.
“I feel ashamed,” he said. “I am here in a safe place while my brothers and sisters are under threat of death.”
He said Iran’s hyperinflation had made people nearly half poorer in just four months.
“They could not earn enough to feed their families,” he said.
Mehdi added that many Iranians were hoping for international intervention, including support from former US president Donald Trump.
“At this time we really need help,” he said.
No clear opposition leadership
Analysts say the Iranian opposition remains deeply fragmented, with no single leader emerging inside the country.
Professor Shahram Akbarzadeh of Deakin University said fear of reprisals has discouraged centralized leadership.
“Opposition groups are disjointed and have different aims,” he said. “People organize through networks rather than rallying around one figure.”
This decentralized structure mirrors other recent youth led movements around the world, where local groups and digital platforms replace traditional leadership.
Maryam Alemzadeh of the University of Oxford said the Iranian government has spent decades dismantling any form of organized opposition.
“As a result, neither leadership nor grassroots organization can be expected,” she said. “Protests depend on ad hoc decisions by individuals and communities.”
Reza Pahlavi and monarchist nostalgia
Some protesters and diaspora voices have looked to Reza Pahlavi, the son of Iran’s last shah, as a symbolic alternative. Pahlavi lives in exile in the United States and has called for a secular and democratic system chosen by referendum.
Bahmani said many Iranians no longer trust religious rule.
“Every time people trusted them, they broke that trust,” he said.
Sadat Mosavi agreed, saying Iranians remember Pahlavi’s father as a leader who brought stability, though experts caution that views of the monarchy remain deeply divided inside Iran.
Alemzadeh said Pahlavi’s appeal is driven less by a concrete political plan and more by nostalgia and frustration.
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“He has become the loudest available alternative,” she said, “not necessarily a viable leader of transition.”
Other opposition groups struggle for influence
Other opposition forces include the People’s Mujahideen Organisation, also known as the MEK, led by Maryam Rajavi. The group has a strong presence abroad but is widely unpopular inside Iran, partly due to its alliance with Iraq during the Iran Iraq war.
Another coalition, Solidarity for a Secular Democratic Republic in Iran, emerged after the 2022 protests following the death of Mahsa Amini in police custody. While popular among parts of the diaspora, it has failed to gain traction inside the country.
Ethnic minority regions, including Kurdish and Baluch areas, have often been centers of resistance, but analysts say these movements lack unity and national coordination.
A shared hope for return
Despite the violence and uncertainty, those watching from abroad say their goal remains simple.
“Iran is my home,” Sadat Mosavi said. “If it becomes free and safe, of course I want to go back.”
Bahmani echoed the sentiment.
“If I find my country free and safe,” he said, “yes, I will go back.”
For now, many remain cut off, waiting anxiously for news from families they cannot reach, and for signs that Iran’s turmoil might lead to lasting change.
