‘Sustainable Change Will Rely upon Home Organisational Capability, Not Exterior Drive’ — International Points
CIVICUS discusses the current protests in Iran with Sohrab Razaghi, govt director of Volunteer Activists, a Netherlands-based diaspora organisation empowering Iranian civil society.
Protests triggered by financial grievances erupted throughout Iran on 28 December, rapidly evolving into broader anti-regime protests. The crackdown that adopted resulted in what stands out as the largest bloodbath in trendy Iranian historical past.
What sparked the protests, and in what methods have been they totally different from earlier ones?
Rising costs and the collapse of the nationwide foreign money initially sparked the protests, however these rapidly expanded past financial grievances. At the least partially, it’s because the economic system is now not seen as a purely technical situation however as a measure of the state’s skill to manipulate. A central query amongst social teams now could be whether or not the federal government can handle crises and supply sustainable options.
Anger has constructed up, reflecting damaged guarantees and misplaced futures. Over the previous three a long time, 4 main protest waves – in 2009, 2017, 2019 and 2022 – have been met with repression, denial or superficial reforms. This sample has produced a powerful sense of humiliation and political voicelessness.
However maybe essentially the most decisive issue within the newest wave of protests has been the position of Era Z, a technology that didn’t expertise the 1979 revolution or the battle with Iraq and doesn’t have the ideological attachments of earlier generations. The dividing line is not only age but in addition expectations, existence and values. Whereas earlier generations used to hope for gradual reform inside the system, now many younger folks see no viable future inside the present framework. For them, essentially the most rational responses to what they understand as a structural lifeless finish are disengagement, migration or radical protest.
Latest protests, significantly these of 8 and 9 January, additionally mirrored shifts in protest dynamics, with increased ranges of violence seen in each rhetoric and follow. This escalation probably displays collected frustration and political impasse, however doesn’t essentially point out that the state has weakened. Safety forces to date seem cohesive and operationally efficient, and there are not any clear indicators of fragmentation contained in the coercive equipment.
However the rise in violence is troubling for democratic forces and civil society. When violent techniques develop into distinguished, organised civic initiatives are marginalised and security-driven narratives prevail, weakening sustained civic motion.
Moreover, Israeli and US statements expressing help for protesters and threatening army motion had contradictory and largely unfavorable results.
Whereas such rhetoric initially generated hope amongst some protesters, the shortage of follow-up produced disillusionment and scepticism. Most significantly, statements by international governments, together with Israel and the USA, strengthened the regime’s narrative. They enabled the authorities to body protests because the merchandise of international interference and protesters as devices of exterior powers, together with claims of involvement by Mossad brokers. This narrative was very helpful to justify securitisation and repression.
How have civil society and the media documented human rights violations amid web shutdowns?
Throughout near-total web blackouts, native and community-based teams performed essential roles. They recorded the time and site of incidents, collected testimonies from a number of sources and preserved authorized, medical and visible documentation whereas observing primary digital safety ideas.
When restricted web entry turned accessible, info was shared securely with worldwide companions and diaspora networks. These networks helped archive knowledge, liaise with human rights organisations and media and scale back strain on activists working inside Iran. Worldwide human rights organisations then cross-checked and verified reviews earlier than incorporating them into official documentation. As a result of communication shutdowns, safety dangers and restricted entry to proof prevented full documentation, they sometimes introduced casualty figures and particulars of repression conservatively. On the identical time, faux information and baseless casualty figures are additionally prevalent in diaspora and worldwide media reviews. It’s important to interrogate such reporting to protect the credibility of fact-checked, evidence-based reviews.
Underneath extreme restrictions, unbiased and evidence-based documentation has been important to protect fact, counter denial and lay the groundwork for future accountability.
What’s limiting sustained strain for change?
Latest protests haven’t expanded into broader types of social organisation. Participation by labour unions, native networks {and professional} associations has been restricted, limiting the potential for sustained institutionalised strain. With out stronger organisational buildings, documentation of abuses received’t essentially translate into coordinated civic motion. Social media-based coordination and mobilisation are efficient for the beginning and first part of protests, however on-the-ground management, networks and organising capability are instrumental for sustaining protests and growing strain for change.
On the discursive degree, vital consideration has targeted on appeals for international strain quite than on constructing inner coalitions amongst social teams. In some circumstances, rhetoric has centred on state collapse quite than democratic transition, a framework that dangers instability and additional social fragmentation. Using profanity and violent language – each inside Iran and among the many diaspora neighborhood – has additionally alienated households and reasonable teams, narrowing quite than broadening help.
In the end, for protests to evolve into actions able to exerting sustained strain for change, what’s wanted is inclusive organisation, coalition-building and a unifying narrative.
What ought to the worldwide neighborhood do to strengthen Iranian civil society?
Sustainable change will rely on home organisational capability, management and illustration, not exterior power. So worldwide leaders ought to keep away from battle rhetoric and keep away from partaking in any type of army intervention. Historic expertise means that even restricted international army intervention is unlikely to weaken home repression. As a substitute, it might nicely improve regime cohesion, a minimum of within the brief time period, intensify nationalist sentiment and lift the prices confronted by civil society activists, who might be simply portrayed as collaborators and traitors.
When supporting Iranian civil society, worldwide allies ought to prioritise unbiased, nonviolent civil society organisations quite than opposition teams advocating violence. Narratives of ‘collapse at any price’ marginalise civic initiatives and undermine the prospects of democratisation.
Lengthy-term funding in capability strengthening is important. This contains supporting civic organising expertise, digital safety, democratic advocacy, nonviolent motion and safe communication instruments. Over current a long time, sources and repertoires for change inside civil society have been weakened. Sustained engagement is required to rebuild these capacities, with up-to-date sources, methods and instruments.
Monitoring, documentation and evidence-based reporting grounded in credible native sources are among the many simplest types of help. Correct reporting strengthens prospects for accountability and limits the area for propaganda.
In the end, sustainable democratic change in Iran will rely on civil society appearing independently, rooted in home capacities and supported by context-aware, non-interventionist worldwide engagement.
CIVICUS interviews a variety of civil society activists, consultants and leaders to assemble numerous views on civil society motion and present points for publication on its CIVICUS Lens platform. The views expressed in interviews are the interviewees’ and don’t essentially replicate these of CIVICUS. Publication doesn’t indicate endorsement of interviewees or the organisations they characterize.
GET IN TOUCH
Web site
LinkedIn
Sohrab Razzaghi/LinkedIn
SEE ALSO
‘The unprecedented degree of violence factors to a deep disaster of legitimacy’ CIVICUS Lens | Interview with Feminists for Freedom 09.Feb.2026
‘When worldwide consideration decreases, state violence usually intensifies’ CIVICUS Lens | Interview with Hengaw Group for Human Rights 27.Jan.2026
Israel vs Iran: new battle begins whereas Gaza struggling continues CIVICUS Lens 19.Jun.2025
© Inter Press Service (20260216194716) — All Rights Reserved. Authentic supply: Inter Press Service
