“Be Our Voice”: The Silence of Iran Broken in Budapest

BUDAPEST — On January 12, the silence of a total internet blackout in Iran was broken not in Tehran, but in Budapest. Standing in Kossuth Lajos Square, amidst the historic backdrop of the Hungarian Parliament, an Iranian student participating in a solidarity protest offered a harrowing account of a nation in the throes of what she called a „true revolution.”

She wore a mask, a necessary precaution to protect the family she hadn’t been able to contact for three days. „Right now, I can’t even reach them,” she said, her voice tight with the strain of the information blockade.

At the time, she described the Islamic Republic as a „completely dictatorship regime,” where the Supreme Leader sits „watching that the 90 million people don’t have internet connection.” But as she spoke, she insisted that the world understand the scale of the movement. This was not a localized protest or an economic complaint, she argued, but a nationwide rejection of forty years of theocratic rule.

„These people… even in the villages, people massively come to the street,” she said, firmly rejecting the regime’s narrative that the unrest is manufactured by foreign powers. „How can you say a big country with 90 million population are receiving money from other nations? It is the actual revolution.”

„Obey, Or You Will Be Killed”

Reflecting on the history of the regime, which she traces back to the radical takeover four decades ago, the student described a cycle of violence and mass graves. She highlighted the particular cruelty faced by women, recalling her own experiences of being „arrested several times because of the hijab” before she was able to leave the country for her studies.

„As long as you are living in that country, you are not free to think in a way that you want,” she explained. „You are not allowed to drink. You are not allowed to party… you have to obey the rules. Otherwise, you would be killed.”

She linked this current struggle to the „Woman, Life, Freedom” movement of four years ago, noting that the regime is repeating its „crime” of killing thousands while cutting off the world.

The Three-Pillar Message

The protest in Budapest carried a specific political agenda, centered on three urgent demands that the interviewee called the „Three-Pillar Message”:

• Regime Change: The total removal of the current Islamic government, which she claims „is not representative of Iranians at all.”
• The Return of the King: A call for Crown Prince Reza Pahlavi to return to Iran. „We want him to come back to the country. He is already leading us,” she stated, viewing the monarchy as a bridge to a „free, liberal government.”
• Internet Restoration: The immediate end to the information blockade. „These people need to show the world what is happening there. We need to talk to our families.”

She also touched upon the irony of Iran’s poverty despite its vast natural wealth, accusing the government of „thieving the money of this country” to expand their ideology and fund terrorist groups across the Middle East. Crucially, she clarified that the regime’s hostility toward nations like Israel and the U.S. does not reflect the Iranian people.

„I never seen any Iranian… that have problem with people from other countries,” she said. „Everything is coming from governments. Please make a separation.”

The Blackout Lifts: A Massacre Revealed

In the weeks since that interview, as the digital blockade has developed cracks, the information reaching the West has turned the student’s initial fears into a nightmare. What she described as a dictatorship is now being described by activists and witnesses as the perpetrator of a genocide.

The student, having now received updates from home, reports that the violence was far more severe than the diaspora had imagined. „This is a massacre,” she said in a follow-up account. „Every kind of weapon was used to kill innocent people, while the people had nothing but stones to defend themselves.”

Emerging reports suggest that the burning of government facilities—footage often broadcast by state media—was in fact orchestrated by the regime itself to frame the protesters as rioters . Meanwhile, the state’s response to the civilians has been lethal.

„They Burned Them Alive”

Among the most horrific new details is the tragedy in the northern city of Rasht. According to the student and corroborating reports, repressive forces set fire to the historic bazaar while protesters were trapped inside.

„All the people burned alive,” she recounted. „Those who survived the fire were shot in the heart. Those who were injured were executed in hospitals with gunshots to the head.”

The brutality has reportedly extended to the villages, where the crackdown has been particularly barbaric. Reports describe victims being beheaded with knives and machetes. The fear is so pervasive that the wounded are refusing to go to hospitals, knowing that medical centers have become killing grounds where security forces finish off survivors.

Foreign Mercenaries and Child Soldiers

The student also relayed reports that confirm a long-standing fear among Iranians: the use of foreign proxies. Witnesses have reported hearing repressive forces speaking Arabic, fueling allegations that the regime has imported non-Iranian militia members to shoot civilians. Alongside them, Basij members—some as young as 16—have reportedly been armed and ordered to kill.

The victims defy demographic boundaries, ranging in age from 3 to 50, though the vast majority are young people between 20 and 30.

One account shared by the student highlighted the indiscriminate nature of the slaughter: „My sister was ill and had MS. She came with a cane,” the sister of one martyr said. „They started shooting at her, and anyone who tried to help.”

The Price of a Body

Perhaps the most chilling detail to emerge is the treatment of the dead. Families searching for their loved ones are reportedly being forced to pay exorbitant „bullet fees”—often hundreds of millions of tomans—to reclaim the bodies.

„They are not returned to their families unless they pay a fee,” the student explained, adding a grim detail about the humiliation involved: families are even told to „bring a box of sweets” to the authorities along with the money, a perverse celebration demanded by the executioners.

„A Diamond in the Middle East”

Despite the bloodshed and the horror of the last few weeks, the student’s message from that day in Budapest remains a desperate, singular plea for solidarity.

„Be our voice,” she pleaded to the Hungarian people and the world. „Please stand against this government and support us in any way you can.”

Even in the shadow of this massacre, she holds onto a vision of what her country could be. „I’m sure that this country would be like a diamond in the Middle East if this regime leave our country,” she said, inviting the world to look forward to a „shiny time” where Iran’s 6,000-year history can finally be celebrated in peace.