‘This is Not a Protest, This is a Revolution’: Iranians in East Lansing Try to Monitor Uprising From Afar

Anti-government demonstrations in Iran are being met with violent crackdowns, leaving thousands dead and cutting off much of the country from the outside world through widespread internet shutdowns. With limited access to information, the full scope of what is happening inside Iran remains difficult to verify.

In East Lansing, a city shaped by a major university and a steady flow of international students and scholars, the unrest feels personal for some. Iranian students, university faculty members, and longtime residents say they are watching events unfold from afar while struggling to remain connected to loved ones and to make sure the world understands what is happening.

Iran’s economy has been racked with a collapsing currency, inflation and shortages of goods. Combined with decades of diminishing civil rights and political repression, civilians have taken to the streets to protest the conditions and the government’s response.  

Iranian authorities have responded by detaining thousands of protestors and killing thousands more, according to Amnesty International. As of Jan. 23, the Iranian government reported over 3,000 deaths, but there are worries the actual death toll is much higher. 

A Michigan State University student who asked to remain anonymous out of fear of retaliation against her family in Iran, said the violence has touched nearly everyone in the country.

“The whole of Iran is my family right now,” she said. “Of course it’s good that my parents are alive, but that’s not the point. Almost every Iranian knows someone who has been killed, wounded or blinded. These are the words people live with now — buried alive, stolen body parts, headshots. This is what people in Iran are experiencing.”

Iranian students at MSU have worked to raise awareness and have received support from the university and the broader East Lansing community, the student told East Lansing Info.

“Every human being wants to live in a free country,” she said. “I dream of a free Iran. I appreciate the United States for giving me the opportunity to study, to speak, to dream bigger, and to learn. What I will carry with me is the kindness and support I have received here. But everyone wants to live freely in their own country.”

The movement is more than a protest, the student said, and it is driven by more than economic hardship. 

“This is not a protest,” she said. “This is a revolution…If this were about food or money, the government could stop it. They tried that. They tried to bribe people. It didn’t work.”

Instead, she said, the demands are fundamental. “This is about freedom. People want to live freely. They want to communicate with the world. They want to work, to live, to exist as human beings and to be known as they are.”

Mitra Aliabouzar, a faculty member at the University of Michigan, said repression in Iran has long extended into the country’s universities. She said she was arrested three times for protesting before being barred from continuing her education.

“Students in Iran can be very easily banned from continuing their education simply for questioning the regime or criticizing its authority,” Aliabouzar said. “I was one of those students.”

Aliabouzar fled Iran in 2013 and has not seen her parents in 12 years. She said current economic conditions are dire, with inflation nearing 50% and food prices rising even faster.

“Economic hardship may have triggered this uprising,” she said, “but people are now demanding total regime change.”

Aliabouzar said visible street protests have declined due to violence, but resistance continues in other forms, including nighttime chants and acts of civil defiance. Demonstrations, she said, have occurred in all 31 provinces in Iran.

“This isn’t a war,” Aliabouzar said. “It’s a massacre.”

She said Iranians are still hoping for meaningful international support, but expressed frustration with what she called “selective outrage.”

“A free Iran is the same cause as a free Ukraine or a free Palestine,” Aliabouzar said. “Freedom should not be conditional.”

An MSU faculty member who asked to remain anonymous said accounts he has received directly from contacts in Iran align with reports of widespread violence.

“Something that people I know firsthand all agree on — not from the news, but people I personally know — is that the government is shooting people,” he said. “Without hesitation. People are being shot in the streets, and others are being targeted by snipers from tall buildings. I’ve heard this directly from people who witnessed it.”

The MSU employee said members of his extended family have been arrested and remain imprisoned.

“We don’t know what will happen to them,” he said. “It’s horrific.”

He added that young people have borne the brunt of the violence.

“They want a modern life,” he said. “The old narratives the government uses no longer work. People want something simple: freedom and dignity.”

The MSU faculty member said the government has attempted to deflect blame by blaming foreign interference for violence. He urged journalists and readers to carefully evaluate sources.

“I hope people can distinguish between the real voices of the people and those who are funded by or aligned with the regime,” he said.

Yasamean Zamani-Hank, a faculty member at MSU, has not been able to communicate with her family in Iran for weeks.

“It’s the scale and scope,” Zamani-Hank said. “There have been protests in Iran for decades, but this time there’s a clear understanding that unless people rise up at this level, nothing will ever change. Even in the face of heinous violence, Iranians are standing up and protesting. That takes tremendous bravery. There’s a ‘now or never’ feeling.”

While state violence is not new, she said the intensity of the protests, combined with nationwide participation and deteriorating economic and living conditions, reflects deep exhaustion. 

“Iranians are saying ‘enough is enough,’” she said.

Zamani-Hank said she hopes the unrest signals the end of the regime, but cautioned against expecting immediate results.

“The situation in Iran is reflective of a decades-long human rights struggle that has wreaked havoc on peace, prosperity, and well-being not only in Iran and in the Middle East, but across the world,” Zamani-Hank said. “We are all hoping this chapter comes to an end, and the Iranian people succeed in their fight for freedom and human rights.”