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Policy Brief January 23, 2026

Tipping the Balance: How to Support Iranians in Their Tireless Struggle for Freedom

Amid rising authoritarianism and a wavering international commitment to human rights, the latest wave of protests in Iran is a reminder of the universal desire for freedom. This policy brief outlines how democracies can help realize that aspiration.

Written By
Adrian Shahbaz Vice President, Research and Analysis

Adrian Shahbaz

Vice President, Research and Analysis

Iranians deserve better. Since 2009, millions have taken to the streets every few years to demand their rights, only to be met with brutal repression. The nationwide protests that erupted in late 2025 underscore both the depth of popular grievances—including stolen elections, economic mismanagement, religious intolerance, and systemic discrimination against women—and the enduring fragility of the regime. As aging Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei seeks to reconsolidate his power, democracies should scale up support for the Iranian people in their enduring struggle for freedom.

From bazaar to breaking point

Mass protests have grown more common in Iran. The most recent upheaval started on December 28, 2025, when merchants in Tehran took to the streets in anger over soaring inflation and the continued collapse of Iran’s currency. President Masoud Pezeshkian initially struck a conciliatory tone, meeting with business leaders, appointing a new central bank governor, and calling on his government to listen to the protesters’ “legitimate demands.”1 But the demonstrations continued to expand, and protesters’ focus shifted from economic grievances to denunciations of the entire political system.2

As calls for Khamenei’s removal grew, Pezeshkian eventually joined the clerical and security establishment in adopting a more hard-line approach. Authorities responded to the nationwide protests with disproportionate force, a blanket communications blackout, and a propaganda campaign portraying protesters as enemies of the state. At least 4,902 people have been killed, according to widely cited figures from the Human Rights Activists News Agency (HRANA), with approximately 9,000 deaths still under investigation.3 HRANA also reported that more than 26,000 people have been detained. Those in detention are subject to torture, unfair military trials, and possible execution.4

Severe restrictions on internet and telephone service, in place since January 8, have made it very difficult for Iranians to communicate with each other and the outside world. Pointing to sporadic outbreaks of violence, Iran’s leadership used its media monopoly to smear protesters as terrorists and foreign agents. Authorities stoked fears of all-seeing surveillance; police shared a video of a drone flying outside of apartment windows to listen for protest chants against the regime.5 By January 12, protests had dwindled as residents in several major cities reported the imposition of nightly curfews and the widespread deployment of security personnel on the streets.6

A decades-long struggle

In the face of regime propaganda and severe repression, the sheer number of Iranians participating in the protests reflects a widespread yearning for freedom. For decades, locals have tried to work within the flawed system to drive genuine reform, only to have their efforts stymied. The regime ensures its survival through rigged elections, a brutal security apparatus, and sophisticated internet controls. Freedom of expression and belief are tightly restricted, while many ethnic and religious minorities face persecution.

The Guardian Council, an unelected body controlled by the supreme leader which vets candidates ahead of major elections, has routinely disqualified reformist and moderate figures, as well as regime insiders perceived as showing insufficient deference to Khamenei.7 Due process is routinely denied. Repression often spikes when the regime is at its most vulnerable; police detained more than 20,000 people in the three months after the military’s disastrous 12-day war with Israel in June 2025.8 Among the regime’s many prisoners of conscience is Nobel Peace Prize laureate Narges Mohammadi, who has been repeatedly jailed for her nonviolent advocacy against the death penalty, torture, and discrimination against women.9

Digital and traditional media are heavily censored. Iran consistently ranks among the world’s worst countries for internet freedom.10 For 20 years, officials have been developing a domestic internet known as the National Information Network that is more easily censored, monitored, and restricted.11 This infrastructure has allowed the regime to cut off international connectivity during mass protests while preserving access to government networks, financial services, and a “whitelist” of approved websites. A small number of Iranians have increasingly relied on Starlink, the satellite internet service owned by SpaceX, to stay connected when authorities unplug the internet. An estimated 50,000 satellite terminals have been smuggled into the country since 2022.12 In response, the government criminalized the use of Starlink and other unlicensed communication services in 2025, with penalties ranging from six months’ imprisonment to the death penalty in cases of alleged espionage.13

Recommendations for the United States and Europe

Countering authoritarianism in Iran and elsewhere demands a multidimensional approach. Economic sanctions and diplomatic pressure can help constrain corrupt regimes that seek regional dominance and resort to domestic repression for their survival. And while the US and many European governments have reduced their foreign aid budgets, events in Iran demonstrate the continued value of democracy-related foreign assistance. 

  • The US administration should release funding for existing programs that support Iranians’ access to independent information. The US Agency for Global Media should ramp up Farsi-language broadcasting, which was gutted in early 2025 and only partially restored following Iran’s war with Israel.14 Policymakers should immediately disburse withheld money to the Open Technology Fund, a Congressionally-funded organization, to continue supporting encrypted tools that allow internet users to securely circumvent censorship and surveillance, such as virtual private networks (VPNs), and decentralized communication apps that allow users to share information during a communications shutdown.15
  • Congress should pass new provisions that surge democracy support to Iranians. This includes the FREEDOM Act, a bipartisan bill that would help Iranians to access satellite internet directly on their devices, rather than through terminals that are costly and dangerous to smuggle.16 Legislators should also approve provisions in the foreign affairs budget currently under review that include funding for “democracy programs in support of the aspirations of the Iranian people,” as well as the enforcement of sanctions against Iran.17
  • Strategic foreign assistance programs should be coupled with targeted measures to hold the regime accountable. President Donald Trump announced on social media a new 25 percent tariff on countries “doing business with Iran,” while the Treasury Department enacted new sanctions against senior Iranian officials involved in the crackdown and the “shadow banking networks” that profit from the Iranian oil trade.18 The US should work with partners to coordinate asset freezes on human rights abusers and curb efforts by Iranian state agencies to use stablecoins and other cryptocurrencies to circumvent sanctions.19
  • Similarly, the European Union (EU) should renew its longstanding sanctions on Iran, set to expire this April, and craft additional measures to punish specific officials complicit in human rights abuses at the next meeting of the EU’s Foreign Affairs Council on January 29.20 The European Commission should rapidly establish funding mechanisms that support secure tools that allow people in authoritarian regimes to resist online censorship, surveillance, and shutdowns, as outlined in the European Democracy Shield strategy approved last November.21
  • Finally, democracies should step up diplomatic pressure against the Iranian regime by calling for an immediate end to the communications blackout and the release of all political prisoners. At the United Nations, member states’ diplomats should renew the mandate of the Special Rapporteur on human rights in Iran, extend the Independent International Fact-Finding Mission on the Islamic Republic of Iran, and convene a special session of the Human Rights Council to share testimonies of human rights violations and build momentum for further accountability for Iranian leaders.

The world needs democratic leadership

From Tehran to Caracas, Moscow to Beijing, it is no coincidence that autocratic leaders are among the primary drivers of global instability. In the face of increasing collaboration among autocrats, democracies should not be deterred from demonstrating international leadership by standing with those on the frontlines of the global struggle for freedom. Iran has supplied Russia with deadly drones for its illegal war in Ukraine, while China purchases the vast majority of Iran’s sanctioned oil, benefiting from a steep discount. A democratic Iran would prove a more reliable partner for peace and serve as a model of reform in the world’s least free region.

Support for nonviolent protest movements, civil society organizations, and human rights defenders is often more cost-effective than complex military operations, which carry enormous human and financial costs and frequently generate unintended consequences. Soft-power initiatives that align with the universal desire for freedom advance both US and European interests, as well as international security. The ultimate goal must be to create conditions that allow the people of Iran to choose their own leaders and shape their own future.

Events in Iran show that the desire for freedom is unwavering and universal. Democracies should be confident enough in their values—and sufficiently clear-eyed about their interests—to stand with Iranians in this just cause.