Family Matters: A New Zealand Iranian voice

In this episode Family Matters, Simon speaks with Iranian-New Zealander activist and writer Forough Amin about the ongoing conflict and upheaval in Iran and what it feels like for Iranians in New Zealand. Forough says the latest round protests began in December 2025 with Tehran Grand Bazaar merchants striking over inflation, rising prices, and currency collapse, then spread nationwide across all 31 provinces after Crown Prince Reza Pahlavi urged more Iranians to participation. She describes the January massacre in which the Islamic regime opened fire on civilian protestors and shut down the internet, leaving the diaspora without news. Iran International later estimated about 12,000 killed, with later reports suggesting even higher totals. Simon and Forough talk about Iran is currently enduring the world’s longest blackout for over 90 days, with limited return of access requiring VPNs for apps like WhatsApp and Instagram, and reports from inside describe despair, uncertainty, and poverty said to exceed 30%. Forough argues Iran’s decline stems from the 1979 Islamic Revolution: hostage-taking, Sharia enforcement, loss of women’s rights and freedoms, mass executions including of the leftists who helped the regime take power, and prolonging the war with Iraq. She says the regime prioritises ideology and foreign proxies over domestic welfare, citing billions spent on Assad’s Syrian regime, and terror groups such has Hamas, Hezbollah, as well as Yemeni and Iraqi militias. Simon then asks Forough about the death of Mahsa Amini in 2022. Arrested by the regime’s morality police for hijab violations, Mahsa’s killing fueled the Woman, Life, Freedom protests across the world. Forough speaks of how she and many Iranians want to see an end to the Islamic regime while criticising US negotiations that frames discussion between them and ‘moderates versus radicals’. She notes that the regime is an ideological cult exporting terrorism globally. She and Simon finally discuss the weekly New Zealand rallies, panels, and awareness efforts being run by Iranians and urge the New Zealand government to designate the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corp (IRGC) as a terrorist organisation and expel Iran’s ambassador, and take the regime’s threats seriously. To read more of Forough’s thoughts and wider research, go to www.foroughamin.com #familymatters #familyfirstnz