Iran protests: How Radio Farda manages to keep on reporting from Prague
Iran’s regime is facing another wave of mass protests, with reports indicating that hundreds of demonstrators have already been killed. The country is once again grappling with a near-total communications blackout, strict censorship, and severely limited access to verified information. In this interview, Hannah Kaviani of Radio Farda—the Persian-language service of Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty based in Prague—explains among others how the current unrest differs from the 2022 protests and how contact with people inside Iran is being maintained from the Czech capital.
How much has your work changed over the last 15 days or so?
“I would say that we go through these kinds of cycles every few months, so this is yet another one. But this time it is somewhat different, based on what we are observing inside the country, as much as we can see from afar, from Prague.
“Over the past 15 days it has very much been a roller coaster, but over the past three or four days it has been much harder because we have lost almost all contact with Iran, except for a few people on the ground who are informing us, reporting what is happening, or sending us videos.”
How does this feel different from the protests in 2022?
“It’s not only about the nature of the protests or how widespread they are; it’s also about the conditions that brought Iran to this moment compared to 2022. The country was already very much on edge, and there was always a sense that something was coming. There were several reasons for that.
“We had the 12-day war after Israel, and later the Americans, bombed Iran in June 2025, and the ceasefire that followed was very fragile. At any moment, something was expected to happen.
“Then there was the economic situation, especially after President Trump reimposed sanctions on Iran. With the snapback of international sanctions, following the decision of the three European countries — the so-called Troika — to go to the UN Security Council together with the Americans and reimpose sanctions, the economic situation became much harsher. That was another aspect of an extremely unstable situation.
“There was also a dramatic situation with water shortages at one point.
“Absolutely — not only water, but also electricity and energy resources. We knew that at some point the government would have to increase the price of petrol. All of these factors were pointing toward this moment. They are what makes the current situation very different.
“I’ve spoken with many analysts and political scientists. A few days ago, for example, I interviewed Jack Goldstone, one of the most prominent scholars on revolution theory. When people like him look at the current situation in Iran, they describe it as fundamentally different from before because of these underlying conditions.
“If we go back to the protests that started before the New Year, we saw the first demonstrations driven by economic hardship. Due to mismanagement, sanctions, and other pressures, the government had to perform what they themselves described as ‘economic surgery.’
“This surgery was inevitable; there was no other option. But they also knew it would be extremely painful, and whether they would survive it politically was an open question.
“The moment they began this surgery, protests started. Very quickly, they turned into targeted protests aimed directly at the foundations of the Islamic Republic. People began chanting ‘Death to the dictator,’ ‘Down with the Islamic Republic,’ and even calling for the return of the former crown prince of Iran. It escalated into something much broader in a very short time.”
What about the role of the Tehran Bazaar?
“That raises an important question: how pro-establishment is the new generation within the Tehran Bazaar? Yes, those at the top of the Bazaar — a key pillar of Iran’s economy — met with the Iranian president on the second or third day of the protests.
“But there is also a very large group of young people inside the Bazaar who do not resemble the Bazaar of past decades. They have different ambitions, different lifestyles, and are not necessarily religious or conservative.
“So we need to understand the Tehran Bazaar differently than we did in 1979 or in the years that followed, when it was a base the Supreme Leader, Ali Khamenei, could rely on.
“What is also significant is the role of small cities and towns. As an Iranian journalist who has covered Iran for years, I have to admit that some of the names of these towns were unfamiliar to me.
“In western and southern Iran, people came out in the thousands in very impoverished areas where people feel they have nothing left to lose. They can no longer put food on the table.
“These protests spread wider and wider until last Thursday, when everything changed after a call by the former crown prince, Reza Pahlavi. Iran does not have a unified opposition, but he is one of the most prominent figures. Speaking from Washington, he called on people to come out on Thursday and Friday, and that moment changed the entire trajectory.”
How to explain Reza Pahlavi’s influence?
“I’m sitting in Prague without direct access to people on the streets of Iran, so I won’t speculate about percentages of support. What is clear is that his presence at this moment and his call to action were a unifying factor.
“Before the internet was shut down on Thursday, I observed a very small circle around myself online, particularly on Instagram. I saw people who were going out into the streets because they believed he was their man — that he could save them, liberate Iran, and promise a prosperous future.
“But I also had friends who went into the streets that night — and I haven’t heard from them since — who are not monarchists and do not necessarily support Reza Pahlavi or want him as a leader. They went out because they felt this was the moment to unite.
“That’s why it’s very difficult for me to say whether he has 30, 50, or 70 percent support. He was the one who made the call, and people responded across Tehran — in affluent neighborhoods and impoverished ones alike. So I would be very cautious about making estimates.”
How does Radio Farda stay connected during the blackout?
“As you said, this isn’t the first time we’ve experienced this. What’s different now is that phone communication has been completely cut. We cannot call inside Iran at all.
“At some point in the evening — around 7, 8, or 9 p.m. — phone lines inside the country were also shut down to prevent people from communicating with each other.
“The first 24 hours were extremely difficult. We had a total blackout and didn’t know what was happening. Initially, we relied on trusted sources outside Iran — human rights organizations and verified online accounts — especially for videos we could trust.
“After about 20 hours, some people began using Starlink terminals. We know these exist inside Iran, though initially the authorities managed to jam or disrupt them.
“Exactly. A few trusted sources — in Tehran, Mashhad, Kerman, Rasht, and even one outside Iran — re-established contact. They provided us with footage and firsthand accounts from protests on Thursday, Friday, and Saturday, as well as details about daily life: shop closures, long bread lines, restaurants shutting down.”
Which platforms are people using?
“It varies. Telegram is widely used. Instagram is very popular but currently inaccessible. Some safer messaging apps like Signal are also used.
“At Radio Farda, we constantly remind people how they can contact us — via WhatsApp, phone lines, or other methods.
“Since two days ago, we have resumed shortwave broadcasting. We had stopped due to budget constraints, but we returned to shortwave during the 12-day war and are doing so again now.
“People can also listen via satellite television if it’s not jammed. And if they have internet access, they can listen online.
“We track our website audience on a large screen in our office. Since the shutdown, traffic dropped to about one-tenth of normal. That was heartbreaking to see. Internet shutdowns essentially erase much of our audience.”
Is there a song linked to the current protests?
“Interestingly, there’s a classical piece conducted by a famous Iranian conductor called The Epic of Khorramshahr. Khorramshahr was occupied during the Iran-Iraq War and later liberated.
“This piece is being widely shared, especially by Iranians outside the country.
“It’s a powerful composition, with emotional highs and lows that reflect the current mood. It’s not a happy moment — hundreds of people have been killed — but there is also bravery in standing up to the system. That’s why this piece resonates so strongly right now.”
How has AI changed verification?
“Absolutely. AI-generated content has made journalists’ lives much harder. There are videos with altered soundtracks or fabricated visuals.
“One example shows real footage of people protesting in darkness after authorities cut electricity, but a fake AI-generated version of the same scene has circulated widely.
“If you don’t read the description carefully, you might miss that it was AI-produced. Because trust is everything, we at Radio Farda are extremely cautious. If we cannot verify numbers or facts, we don’t report them.
“We repeatedly remind our audience that Radio Free Europe cannot confirm casualty figures.
“There is one horrific video whose location we have verified, but I cannot responsibly say how many bodies are present or how many more there may have been.
“We’ve built trust over decades, and we will not compromise that. AI makes double- and triple-checking absolutely essential.”
Are the protests ethnically diverse?
“You can’t say this is a Kurdish cause, an Azeri cause, or a Baloch cause. Everyone is out, and they are all saying the same thing.
“Initially we heard more from Kurdish regions and Lorestan, then the south, then Azeri regions.
“People have different grievances and living standards, of course — conditions in Balochistan are vastly different from affluent areas of northern Tehran.
“But they all identify the same root cause of their suffering: the system itself. That’s what unites them.”
If the regime fell, what would you do first?
“That’s a very difficult question. I haven’t been inside Iran since 2007 — almost 19 years. For 19 years, I’ve woken up with Iran and gone to sleep with Iran. I live according to Iran’s news cycle.
“Thanks to technology, I follow social life closely — new cafés, bookstores, buildings. I live a parallel life in Tehran, the city I’m from.
“But I also remind myself that the road is bumpy. There have been many cycles when people believed it was time to return, and it wasn’t.
“I’ve learned to be more realistic, and I’ve learned the hard way. I try not to raise my hopes too high, nor to lose them entirely.
“I continue living this parallel life until, maybe one day, I see my city again. Of course I dream of seeing my country again, and I do feel homesick — there’s no shame in that.
“But right now, I can’t imagine what comes next. So I live day by day, go to work tomorrow, continue working at Radio Farda — Farda means tomorrow in Persian — and wait to see what the future brings.”
