Iranian protesters in Yerevan blocked from march as police make arrests
For more than a week, protests outside the Iranian Embassy in Yerevan have continued, entering a second week as Iranians and Iranian Armenians living in Armenia repeatedly returned to the embassy gates, protesting the killing of demonstrators in Iran and calling for an end to decades of religious rule. Many demand a secular system of governance, openly rejecting the authority of Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei. Some demonstrators have voiced support for Reza Pahlavi, whom they see as an alternative, symbolic or political, to the current regime.
For those living abroad, the most frightening development has been the communications blackout. Phones went silent without warning. Internet connections vanished. Daily calls to parents, siblings, children and friends abruptly stopped. For many protesters in Yerevan, the absence of information became its own form of torment. Not knowing whether loved ones were alive, detained, injured or in hiding became a daily reality.
Inside Iran, curfews were imposed and movement restricted. Security forces, alongside militias and proxy groups, were deployed to prevent protests from restarting. Streets once filled with chants were cleared by force. However, the chants continue from balconies in cities across the country.
Tensions in Yerevan escalated on Jan. 17, when Armenian police prevented protesters from carrying out a pre-planned march from the embassy to the Blue Mosque. Demonstrators said the march had previously been approved by the municipality on Jan. 15, but was partially canceled following what officials described as “threats.” According to protesters, police warned that force and special measures would be used, if the march proceeded.
With the route blocked, demonstrators instead began a sit-in outside the embassy. The area quickly filled with police officers, and protesters accused authorities of reversing their decision under pressure from Tehran. Iran’s ambassador to Armenia, Khalil Shirgholami, publicly warned that Tehran was developing the perception that Armenia was becoming a center for hostile forces against Iran. Shortly afterward, Armenian police moved in, detaining several participants.
By the end of the day, seven protesters had been arrested. Armenia’s Interior Ministry Police said security at the embassy was being “properly ensured.” Several eyewitnesses, however, described confrontational and degrading behavior by police. According to protesters present at the scene, officers mocked demonstrators, laughed at photographs of those killed in Iran and made crude remarks about images documenting state violence. Verbal arguments followed. Witnesses said no physical force was used against police, yet arrests were still carried out.
As protests continue abroad, the scale of violence inside Iran remains difficult to confirm. Two sources told Iran International that at least 12,000 people — and possibly more than 20,000 — have been killed, based on official and medical data. Doctors inside Iran have reported wounded protesters being removed from hospitals by security forces or killed outright by militias.
Back in Yerevan, the protests persist — smaller now and quieter, marked by handwritten signs. For those standing outside the embassy, the gatherings are no longer about drawing crowds or headlines. They are about presence and refusing to let silence erase what is happening inside their country.
All photos are by Weekly contributor Anthony Pizzoferrato.
