Iranian Expatriates in India Face Intimidation Campaign for Political Dissent
Iranian citizens residing in India have come forward with alarming accounts of receiving threatening phone calls and messages aimed at silencing their criticism of the Ayatollah regime in Tehran. Simultaneously, their family members back in Iran are being subjected to direct pressure from security agencies, creating a transnational atmosphere of fear and intimidation.
Direct Threats Through Indian Phone Numbers
Several Iranians who have participated in small-scale demonstrations within India reported receiving communications from unknown Indian phone numbers containing explicit warnings against criticizing the Iranian government. These messages, delivered in both English and Farsi languages, began appearing approximately two to three days ago, coinciding with renewed reports of violence and arrests within Iran itself.
One Iranian woman, who has lived in India for four years, described the unsettling pattern: "We have been receiving calls from Indian numbers warning us against holding anti-regime protests or speaking against it while living in India. Some of us have even received warning messages in both English and Farsi."
She revealed an even more concerning development where some callers attempted to gather personal information under false pretenses: "A few people contacted me claiming to be Indians whose relatives in Iran needed help. When they asked me to share details of my family members so they could contact them directly, I realized something was wrong. It felt like an attempt to collect information about my family back home, so I stopped responding."
Families in Iran Bear the Brunt of Pressure Tactics
The intimidation campaign extends far beyond direct communications with expatriates, significantly impacting their relatives within Iran. Mohammed, who requested only his first name be used for safety reasons, shared that his family members received direct calls from Iranian security agencies instructing them to persuade him to cease protest activities in India.
This pressure followed Mohammed's participation in a brief demonstration outside the Iranian embassy in New Delhi about a week ago. "They called my family and told them to ask me not to hold protests in India," he explained. "The same thing has happened with many other Iranians living here. They are harassing our families by summoning them to their offices, sometimes requiring travel as far as 200 kilometers away."
Mohammed detailed how this harassment often involves repeated summons over multiple days, creating sustained psychological pressure. Security agencies have reportedly employed misinformation to amplify fear, including one instance where a mother was falsely told her daughter had been arrested abroad for protesting. With Iran's communication restrictions preventing verification, the mother experienced days of panic before learning her daughter was safe.
"These are pressure tactics," Mohammed emphasized. "They are meant to scare our families so that we go silent."
Global Pattern of Intimidation Against Dissent
The phenomenon appears to be part of a broader strategy by Tehran to control dissent beyond its borders. Bahaar Ghorbani, an Iranian activist now based in Europe after spending years in India, confirmed that Iranians in other countries including Italy have received similar warnings from Iranian embassies against participating in anti-regime protests.
Despite these coordinated intimidation efforts, Iranian expatriates remain defiant. "But we will continue to raise our voices against the regime in Iran and the killings carried out to suppress protests," Ghorbani declared. "Our efforts will not stop until we achieve freedom."
The Iranian expatriates who spoke with journalists emphasized that despite the threats targeting them directly and their families back home, they have no intention of ceasing their criticism of the Tehran regime. Their resolve highlights the ongoing tension between state control mechanisms and diaspora activism in the digital age, where geographical distance no longer provides complete protection from governmental pressure tactics.
