Rage. Grief. Anxiety. Iran’s recent mood shift.
In the aftermath of another wave of antigovernment unrest, Iran is gripped by a mood of collective grief and uncertainty about the future.
During recess, teachers weep and talk about students who have died. College students are boycotting final exams in honor of fallen classmates. Young people say they are feeling guilty about being a survivor. Mariam, a 54-year-old designer, said she panics whenever her teenage son leaves the house because he had friends and classmates who were shot and killed in the protests.
She stated, “The truth is that we are feeling extremely unwell.” I’ve never witnessed such collective grief and instability before. We don’t know what will happen in the next hour.” Mariam, like many of the people interviewed for this article, requested that she only be referred to by her first name out of concern for retaliation.
Protests demanding the ouster of Iran’s authoritarian clerical rulers have ended. But many Iranians say that feelings of rage against the government and anxiety about the future permeate all aspects of life, and that nothing feels normal anymore.
The perception that the standoff is not yet over is exacerbated by the government’s ongoing crackdown and arrests of dissidents, including prominent political figures from the reformist faction. While Iran’s leaders struggle to contain internal dissension, they are subjected to external pressure.
If the ongoing talks between Washington and Tehran do not result in a deal to limit Iran’s nuclear and military capabilities, President Trump has been building up U.S. warships in the waters near Iran. These ships are prepared to launch a strike. Both teachers and students claim to be traumatized. Nafiseh, a 35-year-old high school teacher in the capital, Tehran, said that during recess, she and other teachers discuss the uprising and cry.
She stated, “The students are extremely distracted and frightened,” adding, “They tremble with fear at the slightest sound of an ambulance siren or an airplane.” The killings have been attributed by the Iranian government to terrorist groups affiliated with Israel and the United States. It asserts that terrorists killed numerous protesters and that armed operators infiltrated the demonstrations, resulting in the government’s militarized response.
But more than a hundred videos and images, verified by The New York Times, show the breadth of the government’s violence, including videos of security forces in uniform and on motorcycles firing directly at unarmed protesters.
The government said that about 3,400 people were killed, among them 200 children and minors and 100 college students, and at least 500 security officers.
Rights groups like HRANA, which is based in the United States, claim that at least 7,000 protesters were killed, and the number is likely to rise as more deaths are confirmed. The large number of deaths — most over the span of three nights in early January — amounted to the deadliest unrest in Iran’s modern history, according to rights groups and a historian — has left many Iranians shocked.
To assist people in coping, some therapists claim to be providing free online workshops. Psychologists said their patients are displaying chronic anxiety, and deep anger and mistrust.
“In recent weeks, the emotional atmosphere in Iran has changed dramatically,” Dr. Bita Bavadi, a psychologist in Tehran, said in an email. “In my clinical work, I observe an intense mixture of anger, fear, helplessness, and unprocessed collective grief.”
The threat of war with the United States, which has deployed naval war ships near Iran’s territorial waters, is adding another layer of uncertainty.
Trump has stated that he would consider carrying out military action against Iran if the country does not agree to a deal that would suspend its nuclear program and limit the range of its missiles. Additionally, he has stated that a change in Iran’s regime would be beneficial. Iranians, both supporters and opponents of the government, openly ponder a war waged by the United States and whether the regime and its supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, would survive.
Mohamad Renany, a cleric who has spoken out against the government’s crackdown on protesters, said on social media, “The priorities of the people are different from the priorities of their rulers.” He continued, “When the regime’s priority is political ideologies and extreme interpretations of its own beliefs, and the people’s priority is bread, a serious confrontation arises between the people and the regime.”
Some Iranians say that they favor U.S. military intervention to free them from this regime because they are so enraged and hopeless about internal change. Others assert that they oppose war due to the possibility of further instability, displacement, and violence. Businessman Kamran, 49, claimed that the demonstrations’ violence had changed his perspective on war. “After the massacre many of us feel we are prey in the hands of a predator, not people living under a government’s rule,” he said. “So our eyes are to the sky, hoping bombs will kill them and Iran will be free.”
Elaheh, a 52-year-old from Tehran, said in an interview that although she opposed the clerical rulers, she was against foreign military interference and did not believe democracy would come with bombs.
She stated, “We have enough problems.” “We cannot endure a war that may destroy our infrastructure, divide our country and kill even more people.”
Since the uprising began at the end of December, more blows have been dealt to Iran’s economy, which is already in terrible shape due to international sanctions and corruption. The currency has been in free fall and the government’s shutdown of the internet has impaired commerce.
The head of the union representing workers in e-commerce, Reza Alefnasb, told Iranian media that those who make their living online had lost 80% of their income. He also said that the combination of continued disruptions to the internet and uncertainty about the war was making Iranians spend less on nonessentials.
Sattar Hashemi, the telecommunications minister, told Iranian media last week that the losses from digital business amounted to $3 million a day and the country’s economy as a whole was losing $35 million per day since the uprising.
Many small business owners who specialize in handicrafts, baking, fashion and music took to social media last week pleading with people to make purchases so they could stay afloat. They said that they had stopped working out of respect for the protesters who had been killed, but they also said that this is not sustainable. Accounting is Reza Badri’s job at a furniture store. He said in an interview that sales had come to a near halt for the past month and the owners were laying off workers and downsizing production. In a post on social media, he asked whether anyone could put him in touch with exporters outside of Iran.
“The killing of so many of my countrymen, many of whom are my age, and the sky-high prices are mentally, emotionally, and physically wearing us out,” Mr. Badri said in the interview.
Sephideh, 35, an English teacher in Tehran, said in an interview that her virtual classes have been completely canceled because of internet disruptions and she has not had an income in more than a month.
“I cry almost every day and feel like I’m in the most vulnerable state possible,” she said. “At the same time, I feel anger as well.”
