(NewsNation) — Shaghayegh Moradiannejad, an Iranian photographer who fled the country five years ago for her and her family’s safety, told NewsNation she’s never seen people stand up to Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei’s regime “with nothing but their bare hands.”
“For the past four days, I haven’t been able to contact anyone in Iran because of a full internet shutdown. The regime has cut both the internet and phone lines, so people cannot communicate at all — not with the outside world and not even with each other inside the country. Before the shutdown, I received videos and photos showing what is happening on the ground,” Moradiannejad said.
Activists tell the Associated Press that more than 2,000 protesters have been killed.
Moradiannejad, a photojournalist who captured images while living in Iran of self-immolation among Kurdish women, female genital mutilation and violence against women, said the internet shutdown is a “familiar and intentional tactic of the regime.”
“They shut down communication so they can kill in silence and stop the world from seeing the level of brutality and oppression,” she said.
She added, “At the same time, they spread propaganda claiming these innocent people are supported by the United States or Israel and are therefore not real, peaceful protesters. This lie is then used to justify mass arrests, and the punishment can lead to execution.”
‘A terrifying, constant panic’: Iranian refugee
Lisa Daftari, an Iranian American journalist and foreign policy analyst, explained to NewsNation that these “are the most expensive and intense protests we have seen from the Iranian people in 47 years,” calling it the best chance the Iranian people have ever had to topple Khamenei’s regime.
“Externally, the Iran regime’s proxies — Hamas, Hezbollah and the Houthis — have been drastically diminished. Their ally in the region, Bashar al-Assad’s regime in Syria, has been dismantled, and most recently, Nicolas Maduro has been removed from Venezuela. Internally, the Iranian people have evolved to come out onto the streets in the most fearless and courageous ways. They are no longer interested in reforms or making deals or compromises with this government,” Daftari said.
“They want this government gone. The protests are not just in major cities; we are seeing them all over the country and over 31 provinces,” she continued. “We’re seeing them across socioeconomic brackets and generations. The Iranian people are telling the world that they want this regime gone. And the regime has always been sensitive to the capability of a grassroots movement.”
An Iranian woman, who fled the country and asked for anonymity due to fear for her safety, told NewsNation she has had no information about her loved ones in Iran, other than that she knows several who have joined the protests.
“I live with constant fear for their lives. I keep watching images and videos coming out of Iran, bodies in the streets, people in body bags, desperately searching for familiar faces. It’s a terrifying, constant panic, not knowing who is safe and who may never come home,” she said.
She hopes world leaders such as President Donald Trump and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu “step in.”
“We simply cannot get rid of this regime on our own while they are killing us,” she said. “What is happening now is the worst massacre I could ever imagine in my life. We have done the only thing we could do. We went to the streets.”
She compared the protests to Iran’s Woman, Life, Freedom protest movement in 2022, in which protesters had “nothing but our voices, our hearts, and our demands.”
“And they answered us with bullets. They shot people. They killed people. They blinded people. This isn’t a government. This is brutal, terrorist violence,” she said. “They’ve stolen not just our country, but our lives, our hopes, our dreams, and even our belief that the future can be better.”
Trump weighs military action in Iran
Trump is considering military action in response to Iran’s deadly attacks against protesters and was expected to meet with senior national security advisers Tuesday to weigh next steps.
White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt confirmed to NewsNation on Tuesday morning that Trump was “continually meeting” with his national security team.
“The U.S. stands firmly with the Iranian people in their brave fight against the radical authoritarian regime,” Leavitt said.
Retired Lt. Col. Mike Nelson, who has extensive experience with U.S. Central Command, told NewsNation on Monday the Khamenei regime’s top priority has always been survival.
He noted that, during the Green Revolution in 2009, Iran used crackdown tactics, including lethal force, to end protests and riots as quickly as possible.
“This seems to be continuing,” Nelson said. “There is not a standing opposition ready to sweep in and take over. There’s not necessarily a signal, yet there will be a crack in the regime’s ability to maintain control, but this is enduring and does appear to have widespread upheaval than in 2009.”
Nelson added the crackdown seems more significant this time around, based on the number of casualties.
“The difference here, of course, is President Trump has signaled support, potentially lethally, in terms of targeting regime targets,” he said.
On Tuesday, Trump took to social media: “Iranian Patriots, KEEP PROTESTING – TAKE OVER YOUR INSTITUTIONS!!! Save the names of the killers and abusers. They will pay a big price. I have cancelled all meetings with Iranian Officials until the senseless killing of protesters STOPS. HELP IS ON ITS WAY. MIGA!!! PRESIDENT.”