For many years now, Negin Erfani has been attending British demonstrations against the extremist regime she despises back in Iran, where she was born.
Like countless UK-based Iranian dissidents, however, she has always worried about sharing her name and revealing her face in the media. The threat of harassment and intimidation by Tehran’s agents and their proxies, who have plotted attacks against opponents in Britain, was just too much for her.
“We’ve always had to be very careful of what we say, with whom we say it,” she explains.
The stabbing of journalist Pouria Zeraati in 2024 – which the Iranian embassy denies responsibility for – and foiled terrorism plots against others have served as a warning.
Now, the mass protests breaking out across Iran have emboldened Erfani. Watching a protester scale the wall of the Iranian embassy in London to pull down the regime flag last weekend also gave her strength.
Together with other activists, she is finally stepping out of the shadows – believing the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps has been forced to reduce its plans abroad while struggling for survival at home.
“They’re smelling defeat, so a lot of their energy has gone into thinking about exile plans and hoarding assets. Their focus has changed,” says Erfani, 53, a tech investor who has lived in the UK for 24 years.
Negin Erfani joined the protests outside the Iranian embassy in London last weekend (Photos: Negin Erfani / Getty)Her family moved to Australia for work when she was two years old, but they became stranded when hardline Shia clerics led by Ruhollah Khomeini seized power in 1979, following a revolution against the Shah.
After 47 years of Islamic dictatorship, she has faith that protesters in Iran are “not backing down” – despite state reprisals killing at least 648 of them, according to human-rights groups. An Iranian official has said the total is now 2,000 and some sources believe it is far higher.
“The youth are defiant. Nothing can get in their way,” says Erfani. “There has never in our history been a stronger united front.”
She adds: “I can bet my life on it that there’s no turning back. This will go down in history as one of the greatest revolutions since the Berlin Wall in modern history.”
‘I’m fighting for justice’
Gio Esfandeyari has also been wary of the spotlight until now, for good reason. The Christian man in his 40s has previously told The i Paper of being followed while driving in Brighton and receiving death threats online.
Since leaving Iran as a teenager, after being persecuted for his faith, he has always insisted on remaining anonymous during his 21 years in Britain, where he works as a data analyst.
Yet footage of the protests, leaking out of Iran despite a national internet blackout, compelled Esfandeyari to go public – speaking openly to news broadcasters while attending demonstrations by thousands of Iranians outside Downing Street on Sunday.
“When I see the bravery of the Iranian people fighting this regime after 47 years, I start to question myself: who am I to hide in the UK when I live in a democratic country?” says Esfandeyari, who campaigns with the groups Lotus Advocacy and 4 Iran Together.
Gio Esfandeyari, seen here speaking to the media at protests in London, has begun revealing his face and name in public for the first time (Photo: Supplied)He is confident the regime has been weakened. “I’ve been threatened and harassed by the regime and their proxies in the UK, I’ve been in contact with Counter Terrorism Police. But for the last couple of weeks, I haven’t seen or experienced anything,” he says.
“Of course, if the regime manages to crack down on the protests, forces people to go back home, takes control back again, then they will come for whoever has been vocal in the last few weeks and they’re going to cause us problems.
“But if I’m fighting for justice, I should stand by my values, regardless of what’s going to happen to me in the future.”
‘They’ve imposed a virtual blackout on my family’
Not everyone in the UK can afford to be so brave. Another dissident who has spoken out in the press before, using his real name, feels concerned not about his own safety here but instead for his relatives back home.
Adopting the pseudonym of Atur Barry, he says that two family members have been arrested by security services several times before, intended as a warning for him to shut up. One, he says, is still under surveillance.
They follow this relative between home and work in a car that is easily recognisable, “to let him know that he’s still being watched”, says Barry.
His family have urged him to continue protesting, to use freedoms here that they do not have in Iran, but he sadly decided to stop speaking to them a couple of years ago to reduce potential risks to them.
“We don’t even wish each other happy birthday or happy new year,” he says. “They’ve imposed a virtual blackout on my family.”
An Iranian protester scaled the wall of the Iranian embassy in London to remove the regime flag and hold aloft the pre-revolutionary version (Photos: AFP via Getty Images)Barry, aged in his 60s, has lived in the UK for 47 years. He arrived as a student in 1979 – the same year as the revolution against Shah Mohammad Reza Pahlavi – and has never been able to go back.
Although he prays for the regime’s downfall, he has witnessed too many failed protest movements over the years. Barry cannot say with any conviction whether this one will be any more successful.
“It’s very easy for someone who’s sitting in the safety of London to talk about optimism when there are people who are being maimed or killed,” he says. “It will be up to people inside the country, on the streets, whether they want to continue or not.”
‘With foreign intervention, it could end very quickly’
Barry is worried about what could happen if Donald Trump carries out his threat and attacks Iran, following the American and Israeli bombing campaign against the country’s nuclear infrastructure last year.
He points out that Iranians still hold a grudge against the US for the CIA’s orchestration – together with MI6 – in a coup that ousted the democratically elected socialist prime minister Mohammad Mosaddegh in 1953 to protect American and British oil interests.
Although the Islamic regime is widely reviled for its insistence on strict Shia laws enforced by public executions, he thinks a military attack from abroad could backfire.
Instead, he would like foreign governments to provide opposition groups with strong communication links, to help them coordinate during the regime’s internet blackout. He also wants even tougher financial sanctions and travel bans for people involved in the crackdown.
Erfani understands the desire among some Iranians to overthrow “these evil tyrants” without American military help, for the dignity of their people.
Nevertheless, she is worried about thousands of people being “slaughtered” for weeks or months without air strikes. “With foreign intervention, it could end very quickly.”
Esfandeyari would also welcome US military support. “The regime uses snipers to kill our brothers, our sisters, our family, our friends. Unfortunately, the people are unarmed. They don’t have any guns to fight back.”
Iranian protesters, such as this group in Manchester, have been rallying behind the lion emblem on the pre-revolutionary flag (Photo: Andy Barton / SOPA Images / LightRocket via Getty)All three protesters would like to see greater support from the UK Government.
On Friday, Sir Keir Starmer issued a joint statement together with President Emmanuel Macron of France and Chancellor Friedrich Merz of Germany, saying: “We are deeply concerned about reports of violence by Iranian security forces, and strongly condemn the killing of protestors.
“The Iranian authorities have the responsibility to protect their own population and must allow for the freedom of expression and peaceful assembly without fear of reprisal. We urge the Iranian authorities to exercise restraint, to refrain from violence, and to uphold the fundamental rights of Iran’s citizens.”
The Prime Minister may be cautious about provoking attacks on British interests in the Middle East – such as oil projects in the Persian Gulf and warships protecting cargo in the Red Sea – by Iran or proxy groups in Yemen.
But the words issued so far don’t go far enough for Erfani. “I want Keir Starmer to say: ‘We support the revolution in Iran,’” she says.
‘The only alternative’
Some experts will be wary of Iran becoming another Syria, where peaceful protests against Bashar al-Assad’s dictatorship in 2011 also led to a security crackdown.
That prompted a civil war which killed an estimated 500,000, led to a power vacuum filled by Isis, and caused a refugee crisis across Europe.
There may also be unease in some quarters about the late Shah’s son, crown prince Reza Pahlavi, promoting himself as a potential national leader after decades of exile in the US.
His autocratic father was pro-Western and women enjoyed far more freedoms under his rule – but he still relied on the notorious Savak secret police which tortured and executed opponents.
British Iranians have been carrying images of the late Shah’s son, Reza Pahlavi, while calling on the UK Government to provide stronger support to opponents of the extremist Islamic regime (Photo: Alishia Abodunde / Getty)However, Pahlavi has repeatedly pledged that he wants Iran to become a democracy and only wishes to serve as a transitional leader if it helps his country.
Iranian diaspora support him by waving flags in which the Islamic regime’s symbol is replaced by the pre-revolutionary icon, depicting a lion holding a sword in front of the sun.
Erfani and Esfandeyari are both keen supporters of Pahlavi, arguing that he alone has the potential to unite and reform Iran.
“He’s the only alternative,” says Esfandeyari. “He’s the only one who can guarantee a free referendum in future for Iranians. He wants secularism, he wants stability in the region, he wants to see Iran back in the global family after a long time in isolation.”
Erfani agrees. “The country needs to be democratic, but he would have my vote.”
@robhastings.bsky.social
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