Protests Escalate Outside Iran's UN Ambassador Residence Amid Diplomatic Tensions

On January 31, demonstrators protesting the Iranian regime's violent crackdown gathered outside the residence of Iran's ambassador to the United Nations, Amir-Saeid Iravani, in New York. Protesters spray-painted accusations such as "killer" and "terrorist" on the building to denounce the regime's repression of ongoing protests inside Iran. Reza Ebrahimi, a 38-year-old firefighter and protest participant, declared, "This guy is the representative of the Islamic Republic at the UN. We don’t trust them. They tell lies. ... We want them to leave."

Ebrahimi also emphasized that the ruling regime does not embody the true Iranian people, stating, "This is not Iran. We are Iranians. The Iranian regime is not the real Iran." He pointed to internet blackouts within Iran that silence protestors’ voices. Official Iranian reports list 3,117 deaths since protests began on December 28, but alternative sources including Iranian-German physician Amir-Mobarez Parasta suggest the toll may exceed 30,000.

Meanwhile, on the diplomatic front, the Iranian parliament responded to the European Union’s designation of the Islamic Revolutionary Guards as a terrorist organization by labeling European armies "terrorist groups." Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf, the Iranian parliament leader, announced this move while wearing a Revolutionary Guards uniform, a symbolic counter to the EU's financial sanctions.

This tit-for-tat highlights growing international tensions surrounding Iran’s internal crackdown and the global diplomatic responses escalating alongside continuing demonstrations. The harsh repression inside Iran and the wider international political reactions remain deeply intertwined as protests persist.