Seven young Iranians interviewed by Independent Persian said they reject the prospect of their country becoming like North Korea, offering personal accounts as rights groups and the U.N. describe a deadly government crackdown.
The Independent republished the report Saturday and said it first appeared in Independent Persian. The report says all seven interviewees were born in the 2000s and their names were changed to protect their privacy. It also described their concerns about economic hardship, repression and restrictions on personal freedom.
Independent Persian’s report identifies one interviewee, Shayan, as a 23-year-old architecture student. He said fear had not disappeared but had changed into “deep anger.” “No country becomes North Korea overnight,” Shayan said.
Human Rights Watch and Amnesty International date the protests’ start to Dec. 28, 2025, tying them to a sharp currency fall and soaring inflation. The U.N. said government policies and foreign sanctions also contributed to the unrest, which later included demands for political, social and economic reform.
The rights groups said information they collected identified at least 28 protesters and bystanders, including children, killed in 13 cities across eight provinces between Dec. 31, 2025, and Jan. 3, 2026. That count covers those dates only.
On Jan. 23, U.N. High Commissioner for Human Rights Volker Türk said thousands of people, including children, had been killed in the crackdown, which intensified Jan. 8. He cited a communications shutdown imposed that day and the U.N.’s lack of access to Iran as obstacles to establishing a more precise toll.
Türk also cited mass arrests and concern about possible protest-related executions, while noting conflicting statements by Iranian officials on whether detainees could be executed. He linked the crackdown to a longer pattern of repression, including the government response to protests in 2022 after Jina Mahsa Amini died in custody.
