On Long Island, home to more than 15,000 Iranian-Americans, residents are reacting with horror and disbelief to reports of a deadly government crackdown in Iran, where mass anti-regime protests that began in late December 2025 over soaring costs and economic hardship have been met with lethal force.
The conversations come amid ongoing unrest in Iran, where waves of protests have erupted in response to political repression, economic strain and restrictions on personal freedoms.
Iranian authorities have responded with a sweeping crackdown, deploying security forces to quell demonstrations, detain activists and limit access to the internet. Human rights groups estimate that as many as 4,000 protesters have been killed nationwide since the unrest began.
CNN recently reported that Iran’s supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, has admitted that “thousands of Iranians were killed during more than two weeks of unrest in the country,” deaths he blamed on President Donald Trump, who he said encouraged protesters by promising them U.S. military intervention.
Other reports, many via social media from dissidents who’ve escaped to Turkey, report similarly that the regime has already killed thousands of protestors, who are now demanding an end to what they say is a repressive Islamic regime that has been accused of executing scores of dissidents each year and enforcing strict dress codes that force women to wear hijabs.
A recent report by Amnesty International said it has received verified videos and credible information from eyewitnesses in Iran that reveal mass unlawful killings committed on an unprecedented scale amidst an ongoing internet shutdown imposed by authorities since Jan. 8 to conceal their crimes.
“I think it’s horrific and horrifying to the Iranians who are here because we’re not getting any more information because Iran has cut access to the internet, to prevent information from getting in or out,” Great Neck Mayor Dr. Pedram Bral, who moved to the United States from Iran more than 40 years ago, told Greater Long Island.
“Before they did that, we have seen their tyrannical attacks on protestors, killing many innocent people, with reports now saying there may be as many as 20,000 protestors who have been killed by the regime in the past week.”
Bral also said there seems to be a hypocrisy regarding the current dearth of coverage of the protests in Iran versus the expansive coverage Israel’s war in Gaza received.
“Now, with what’s happening in Iran, all those protestors on college campuses and elsewhere, are silent. That is horrifying,” he said. “It shows the moral corruption of those individuals. Unfortunately, the fact that all these activists are now silent, that is appalling.
“I condemn that in the strongest way. It’s absolute hypocrisy. I believe many of these individuals are being paid by either the governments of Qatar or even Iran,” he continued.
Bral noted that he has read some reports that accuse the protestors in Iran of being from either Israel or America.
“I don’t know how you could possibly have that many Israelis or Americans in Iran to protest,” he said. “We need to really bring out the facts, that there are people fighting for their freedom without a gun, without weapons, they’re not killing anyone… They’re just protesting.”
A statement posted on Facebook by the Iranian-American Society (IAS) in New York said, “We unequivocally condemn the killing of innocent civilians and the destruction that will undoubtedly ensue. No cause, grievance or objective can ever justify the deliberate loss of civilian life. Violence directed at protestors, homes and essential infrastructure constitutes a grave violation of human dignity and international humanitarian principles.”
The statement goes on to say that the IAS stands with the Iranian people and asks that “justice prevail over cruelty, light over darkness and may the people of Iran attain the freedom, security and dignity they so profoundly deserve.”
Jacqueline Harounian, a practicing attorney in Carle Place and first-generation daughter of Iranian immigrants, said she believes some people are confused as who to support, regarding the notable lack of public support for the people of Iran, as there was during the Gaza war with Israel.
“I think there’s a bias in the media in favor of the pro-Palestinian and pro-Gaza coverage, which was effectively, pro-Iran,” Harounian said.
“And because Iran was funding these movements, including in the U.S., I feel people are very confused about who they want to support,” she said. “They don’t want to support Israel, they don’t want to support the U.S. government and Trump.
“I’m not a pro-Trump supporter in any way, I’m an independent, but I can easily see that this wouldn’t be happening without what the Trump administration has done to weaken the regime and its nuclear capabilities during the 12-day war.”
She believes the ongoing protest movement “seems to be a strong uprising and hopefully it will take out the Islamic Republic.”
Asked about the reported brutality of the Iranian regime, she believes it’s a sign of desperation.
“It appears as if the regime is acting very violently and desperately, they have very few cards to play, except to be violent and they’re losing any good will,” she said, “and I think that eventually some of the leftists will turn against them because they’re brutalizing their own people.”
Reflecting on her American experience, Harounian said her parents came to the United States in the early 1960’s, well before the Islamic revolution in 1979, not due to antisemitism but because of the strong ties at the time between Iran and America.
“There have been successive waves of immigrants that have come from Iran since then, because of antisemitism since 1979,” she said. “I’m hoping that the regime is taken down. It will be good for the entire world because they’re a source of hatred.”
A recent Facebook post from Harounian further illuminates her feelings toward the current unrest.
“Since I was small, world events have cast a continuous spotlight on my Iranian roots, forcing me to explain, defend, and now reclaim what it means beyond headlines and politics,” she wrote. “Today, it means resilience, perseverance and strength.
“To know where you are going in life, you have to appreciate where you came from. I am the proud granddaughter of matriarchs Malek and Nina,” Harounian’s post continued.
“Today, I pray that future generations will once again smile and dance freely in the street, celebrate happy occasions, perfumed with the scent of rosewater and saffron. I am beyond hopeful that I will see a free Iran soon.”
Top: Protesters participate in a demonstration in Berlin, Germany, on Jan. 10 in support of the nationwide mass protests in Iran against the government (AP Photo/Ebrahim Noroozi).
