A survivor of Iran's brutal prison system has issued a desperate plea for international solidarity, as a fierce new wave of anti-government protests meets a violent crackdown leaving thousands dead.
A Survivor's Relived Trauma
Nasrin Parvaz, a women's rights activist imprisoned and tortured for eight years in Tehran's notorious Evin prison in the 1980s, says she is reliving her nightmares. She describes watching current events with agony, as security forces reportedly shoot into crowds and the regime imposes an internet blackout to hide its actions.
The latest uprising ignited in late December 2025 in an old Tehran bazaar, with protesters demanding an end to poverty, corruption, unemployment, and repression. Despite gains from the 2022 Woman, Life, Freedom movement, where women won significant social freedoms, fundamental rights remain under attack. Workers are denied labour rights, students face execution for peaceful protest, and the fight for basic liberties continues.
Brutal Regime Response and Mounting Toll
The state's response has been characteristically harsh. Human rights organisations report a death toll exceeding 2,000, though the true figure is believed to be far higher given the scale of demonstrations. Distressing images show families searching for loved ones among rows of body bags.
By the 17th day of protests, the Human Rights Activists news agency recorded 18,434 arrests. State television has broadcast at least 97 forced confessions, a tactic Parvaz recognises from her own ordeal where torture was used to extract false admissions. Military vehicles now patrol Tehran streets day and night, with only bakeries remaining open.
"The regime wants to hide its crackdown," Parvaz states, highlighting the internet shutdown that has left those in exile, like herself, unable to contact family for over a week. Doctors are reportedly blocked from treating the wounded, and injured protesters are removed from hospitals.
A Call for Global Action and Solidarity
Parvaz, supported by the UK-based charity Freedom from Torture which assisted more Iranians than any other nationality in 2024, warns that global attention has drifted since 2022. This silence, she argues, empowers those who torture and kill with impunity.
She calls on the international community and media to maintain focus, raise the political cost of executions, demand the release of political prisoners, and insist on an immediate end to torture. "We must stand shoulder to shoulder in solidarity with the Iranian people," she urges, "in their struggle for what many of us in the UK take for granted every day: freedom, dignity and a life without fear."
Despite the brutal suppression, Parvaz notes the protesters' resolve, echoing their sentiment: they have nothing to lose but their chains. She concludes that the status quo cannot hold, because the Iranian people will never surrender their fight for rights and freedoms.
