Category: World Afairs

The Recent and Ongoing Crackdown on Protests in Iran

I had deep concern about the recent and ongoing crackdown on protests in Iran. These protests began in Iran on the 28th of December 2025, when people across the country, frustrated at decades of repression, demanded fundamental change and a political system that respects human rights and dignity. Iranian authorities responded with an unprecedented deadly crackdown and, since the 8th of January 2026, cut all internet access to conceal the truth from the outside world. Security forces used unlawful force, firearms and other prohibited weapons against protesters, which resulted in mass killings and serious injuries. While the regime itself, on the 21st of January 2026, issued a statement acknowledging that 3,117 people were killed, reports put the true figure at much higher (though numbers have been hard to verify independently). Testimony from medics, morgue and graveyard staff revealed a huge state effort to conceal the systematic killing of protesters, and in recent weeks, university students, doctors, lawyers, teachers, actors, business owners, athletes and filmmakers have all been arrested in an ongoing sweeping crackdown. My concern and disquiet prompted me to send the following letter to the Iranian Ambassador Designate in Dublin (the ceremony to accredit Iran’s Ambassador to Ireland was postponed due to the killings):

School of Political Science & Sociology, Áras Moyola, Central Campus, University of Galway, Ireland

Mr Eshagh Al HabibAmbassador Designate, Iranian Embassy, 72, Mount Merrion Avenue, Blackrock, Co. Dublin

28th January 2026

Dear Mr Al Habib

I strongly support recent protests across Iran, speaking out against the rising cost of living, against the abuse of power and corruption, and demanding state accountability. These protests have been met with a brutal security crackdown: protesters have been shot at and killed, journalists have been detained, and access to the Internet has been blocked.

I call for an end to the systemic state violence in Iran and stand in solidarity with the Iranian protesters fighting for social justice, and freedom of speech and assembly, in the context of increasingly virulent police violence.

I believe the defence of academic freedom, the freedom of speech, freedom of the press, freedom of assembly and association, as well as the responsibility to protect the safety of my colleagues and their students, are universal causes common to all of us in the global sociology community.

I abhor the tragic loss of so many lives during the brutal security crackdown, and will continue to highlight this injustice and hold the Iranian Authorities accountable for these crimes.

Yous sincerely, Dr Mike Hynes, Department of Sociology, University of Galway, Ireland

I did not include my email address, preferring to take the time and effort to write and post my protest, and interestingly, I received the following email from the Iranian Embassy on the 6th of February 2026:

Dear Dr Hynes,

Thank you for your letter which was received today and read by the Ambassador-designate.

The Embassy would like to provide some explanations in order to clarify the facts and realities that have occurred inside Iran over the last weeks. You must be aware that Iran has been under cruel sanctions by the United States and the European Union for years, and as a result of these harsh and inhumane sanctions, the lives of ordinary Iranians have been severely affected in many respects. It is expected that countries that claim to support human rights worldwide to act accordingly!   For years, under the pretext of sanctions, they have even prevented the import of certain necessary medicines and vital goods to Iran. The fundamental rights of the Iranian people have been forgotten and ignored by the United States and Europe for years.

The recent protests in Iran began due to the rise in the exchange rate and the increase in the prices of basic goods, which are a direct result of the continuation and intensification of the harsh sanctions.  In the first days, these protests were peaceful.  During the first week of the 2026 the protests became more aggressive; the police remained vigilant, while the government had been working, from the beginning of the protests, with the leaders of the protests to try resolve their issues by introducing financial measures.

Unfortunately, since January 8, with the explicit and obvious interference of foreign countries, including the United States and Israel, the entry of agents of the Israeli intelligence agency (Mossad) and armed terrorist groups, the peaceful protests descended into violence. As a result of this organized violence, hundreds of innocent people and civilians, as well as more than 100 members of the Iranian police force, were killed. Many public and private properties, hospitals, banks, Mosques and religious places were severely damaged.

The Iranian security forces and police, like those of all countries around the world, including the Irish police (Garda), who dealt forcefully with anti-immigration protests in October 2025, acted in accordance with their inherent and legal duty by firmly confronting these terrorist groups with force. (You can watch the video of the Irish police clashing with protesters in October 2025 here:https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NSSSXeh8mGc)

The Embassy would like to inform you that the government of the Islamic Republic of Iran recognizes the right to peaceful protest for all Iranians, based on the constitution and at the same time, considers its obligation to ensure the security of the people and infrastructure of utmost importance.

For more information, you can refer to the report (with images) attached to this letter.

The Ambassador would also welcome the opportunity to meet and engage in discussions with you on this matter, as well as on other issues related to relations between Iran and Ireland.

With kind regards,

Embassy of the Islamic Republic of Iran
72 Mount Merrion Avenue
Blackrock
Co Dublin
A94 W320

(01)288 5881 ext: 5
info@iranembassy.ie

My response to this email was emailed on the 13th of February 2026, and was as follows:

Dear Sir or Madam (your email is unsigned)

I can’t and will not accept your falsehoods with respect to the brutal and inhuman murder of protesters. The murderous repression of your own citizens has been widely reported and is now known, so your false narrative reflects poorly on the regime and, indeed, those who prop up and support such actions.


And your equating of how the Gardaí policed the recent anti-immigrant riots with the murder of so many protesters in Iran is laughable if it was not so insulting. While the gardaí, acting in their capacity as guardians of society, did indeed arrest many of the rioters and brought them before the country’s courts, there was no loss of life during these disturbances. The Iranian regime, on the other hand, used murderous intent to quell the protests on the streets of Iran, with the loss of thousands of lives (those are figures acknowledged by the regime itself).


Your propaganda report has done nothing to assuage my deep concern and outrage over these recent events, and I again lodge my strong renunciation of how these protests and your own citizens were treated in recent weeks. And I will continue to do so.


Yours
Dr Michael (Mike) Hynes

Letter to the University of Galway Management Team (UMT) about our growing concern with the situation in Gaza

The following is the text of a letter signed by numerous academics and staff from the University of Galway – myself included – and forwarded to the University’s Management Team (UMT) about our growing concern with the situation in Gaza.

Dear UMT, 

Like many others in Ireland and further afield, we have been deeply affected by the intolerable suffering of the people of Gaza over the past three months. The University made a statement on the conflict on the 18th of October, rightly acknowledging the suffering of both the people of Gaza and Israel. Since then, however, it has been reported that over 25,000 Palestinians have now been killed in Gaza, with thousands more missing or still buried under rubble. This figure of 25,000 includes more than 10,000 children. Countless more children and babies have been maimed or orphaned, leading to the coining of a new abbreviation used by humanitarian organisations, WCNSF, or ‘wounded child, no surviving family’, and to UNICEF spokesperson James Elder declaring it a ‘war on children’. Millions of Palestinians have been displaced from their homes, and several international humanitarian organisations such as the United Nations have warned of the escalating risks of starvation and death by disease due to the conditions that have been created. Taking into account statements of Israeli leaders and the relentless bombardment of civilians and civilian infrastructure which appears intended to create conditions that are incompatible with human life, the South African government has brought a case to the International Court of Justice alleging that the attacks by Israel against Gaza amount to a campaign of genocide. This is a claim supported by many international human rights scholars.

Of particular relevance to the University of Galway is the fact that all of the universities in Gaza have now been destroyed and many leading academics in Gaza appear to have been killed deliberately in targeted strikes. Attacking civilian infrastructure is a war crime unless the infrastructure is in active use by combatants, which has clearly not been the case, given that controlled explosions have been used to destroy university buildings. As we know, a university is more than just a building, it is a place that symbolises growth, creativity and nurturing of life and learning within a community. As a national SDG champion and a member of the United Nations Academic Impact (UNAI), the University has committed itself to the promotion and protection of human rights, access to education, sustainability, and conflict resolution. These attacks on Gazan universities and academics place particular demands of solidarity on us as a university community and entreat us to uphold our responsibilities as an SDG champion and UNAI member, and to embody those principles. Indeed, the ceaseless attacks on healthcare facilities and healthcare staff also demand particular solidarity from those of us who work in the health sciences, as does the destruction of Gazan museums, culture, and artefacts of cultural significance to our colleagues within the arts. We also have a duty of care to our Palestinian students and a responsibility to offer recognition and support consistent with the recognition and support rightly offered to Ukrainian students, in particular. For clarity, we also categorically condemn the abduction and killing of Israeli civilians by Hamas on October 7th and wish for an immediate safe release of all remaining hostages; however, these atrocities do not justify the appalling actions of the Israeli government. We also echo the concerns of our University of Galway Students Union and wholeheartedly support their recent statement condemning antisemitism and highlighting the importance of support for our Jewish community at this time. We, the undersigned, therefore request that the University make a strong statement condemning unequivocally the destruction of universities in Gaza and the apparent targeting of academics as well as attacks directed at healthcare facilities and healthcare workers, calling for the release of all hostages and demanding an immediate ceasefire.

Signed,