Chanting “Down with Khamenei” and “Down with dictators”, a few hundred people from the State’s small Iranian community protested in Dublin on Sunday to show support for anti-regime protesters in Iran.
“The government of our country is killing our people just because they are shouting for freedom,” said Saed who, along with many of those spoken to, did not want his family name published.
“They have shut down the internet [in Iran] and are killing people. All we can do is be their voice. I just want others to know what is happening to my people.”
All the protesters who spoke with The Irish Times wanted to see US-based Reza Pahlavi, son of the last Shah of Iran, returned to the country and they wanted free elections held.
“All we need is our king,” Saed said. “We need Reza Pahlavi back. He will bring democracy for us. In the current situation, there is just a religious dictator.”
Arif Habibi holds up his daughter Selena (5) at the protest in Dublin. Photograph: Enda O’Dowd
All the protesters spoken to had family in Iran whom they had not been able to contact since the regime blocked internet access and telephone contact three days ago.
“We are worried about our families,” said Ellie, who has been living in Ireland for four years. “People are being killed in the streets. It is really horrible. We are really sad and really worried.”
At the protest on O’Connell Street, Parsa said: “They are actually torturing people, killing people, and we want to support them, be their voice.
“We also know that the people in Iran are seeing us on the streets of every country in the world. We want to make their hearts warm and show them that we will never forget them.”
[ More than 500 killed in Iran protests with thousands arrested, says rights group ]
He called on the Irish Government to put pressure on the Iranian Regime not to kill the protesters.
“We need the support of all the governments in the world,” he said. “Ask the Islamic regime to leave us alone. Go to Moscow. Stop killing people.”
Rosa Farahani left Iran nine years ago due to the government and now wants it to be removed. Picture: Enda O’Dowd
Nahid, who has two sisters in Tehran, to whom she last spoke three days ago, said there was no press freedom in Iran and no right to discuss everyday issues.
Women have to dress in certain ways and were treated as if they were “half a man,” she said. “So if you go to court and two women say something, that is equal to what one man says. Can you imagine?”
Hadi Daraei was at the protest carrying a poster expressing thanks to Donald Trump.
“One single statement of warning from him to our government prevented lots of people from being killed … That’s why I am here. To tell the entire world, thanks Mr Trump.”
Hadi Daraei holds a pro-Trump poster he created. Photograph: Enda O’Dowd
The US president has warned the Iranian regime not to begin killing the protesters. However, there were reports of mass killings in Iran at the weekend.
Nima Izadi, who has been living in Ireland for 23 years, said people in Iran “want to be normal again”.
They want to “not have any trouble with the world, not be in the news all the time” and to “be a friendly nation”.
Since the Islamic Republic was founded, nine million people have left the country, he said.
“We are nothing like the regime. We don’t need to fight with anybody, especially America. We are friendly with America. I don’t see the problem.”
The Iranian people, he said, were a welcoming nation. “We want our freedom back.”
One man said the Iranian embassy in Dublin had “spies” monitoring the community in Ireland and that criticism of the regime could lead to family members back home being targeted.
It was not possible to contact the embassy on Sunday for comment.
On Saturday the Department of Foreign Affairs changed its advice on travel to Iran to the highest level of warning, advising people not to go there. It said if people were there then they should leave as soon as it was safe to do so.