As Tehran’s internet blackout means names of those killed in the uprising are only starting to emerge, the diaspora is reacting with shock, sadness and anger
The families of Iranians killed by the regime in its crackdown on anti-government protests over the past week have told the Guardian of their devastation on learning of their relatives’ deaths.
More than 2,500 people have been killed so far, according to the US-based Human Rights Activists News Agency, but the death toll is expected to rise substantially as the regime eases a communications blackout imposed since 8 January.
Iran has one of the largest diasporas in the world, many of whom fled the country after the Iranian revolution in 1979, and at least half a million live in Europe. But with the internet shut down, relatives based overseas have been slow to discover the fate of family members in Iran.
Hali Norei, 40, says she fell to her knees when she received a call telling her that her 23-year-old niece, Robina Aminian, had been killed by a shot to the head from behind after joining university friends at a protest in Tehran on 8 January. The news only came after relatives in Iran travelled to the Iraqi border to get enough of an internet connection to call abroad.
