In France, divisions within the Iranian diaspora over events unfolding in their country of origin look set to deepen further, sharpened by the way people consume information, particularly Persian-language satellite television channels and social media.
Protests began on Sunday in the capital Tehran, with demonstrations by shopkeepers over the government’s handling of the economic crisis. Iran’s national currency has fallen sharply and prices have risen rapidly.
The unrest has since spread nationwide, intensifying into the largest wave of protests the country has seen in three years. Violent clashes have been reported between protesters and security forces in several cities.
Several people have been killed, according to Iranian media and rights groups.
The semi-official Fars news agency reported on Thursday that three protesters were killed and 17 injured during an attack on a police station in the western province of Lorestan.
Earlier, Fars and the Kurdish rights group Hengaw also reported deaths in Lordegan, in Chaharmahal and Bakhtiari province. Authorities confirmed one death in the western city of Kuhdasht, while Hengaw reported another fatality in the central province of Isfahan.
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Pro and anti-royalists
While the demonstrations are smaller than the last major outbreak of unrest in 2022, triggered by the death in custody of Mahsa Amini after her arrest for allegedly violating Iran’s strict dress code for women, they have once again underlined political divides within the Iranian diaspora in France.
There are no precise figures on the size of the diaspora, though some studies suggest France is home to more than 30,000 Iranian-born nationals – including elites from before the 1979 Islamic revolution, which saw the fall of the last shah, post‑revolution refugees, students and professionals.
Hilda Dehghani, a Franco-Iranian living in Paris, supports Reza Pahlavi, the son of Iran's last shah, who lives in exile in the United States. She has once again unfurled the monarchy’s flag, which she had put away in recent years.
Dehghani believes he is best placed to lead the country.
“Very clearly, the Iranian population, across the country, in different places, is calling for him,” she told RFI. “Not only are they saying ‘Death to the dictator’, they are calling for his replacement, the one they want to see come.”
However, feminist film-maker Setareh Karimi, who is also living in exile in France, said the influence of royalists within the protests is being overstated, often at the expense of more progressive voices.
“There are pro-royalist sympathisers but they are not as numerous as royalist media claim. This represents a danger for demonstrators, who are not all royalists,” she said.
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The battle over images
Persian-language satellite television channels and social networks are the main sources of information for the diaspora about events inside Iran. But they have also become vectors for misinformation and polarisation among exiled opponents of the Islamic Republic.
Some outlets have broadcast manipulated or misleading video footage that they claim shows pro-monarchy demonstrations. The origin of the images remains unclear.
Verifying such material to counter disinformation has become an increasingly important and time-consuming task for activists.
“We place a strong emphasis on the accuracy of information," says Kian Habibian, co-founder in Paris of the association We Are Iranian Students.
"When we get a video, we put it through software to see whether it has been altered, to make sure it is the right date, the right place and that the information coming out is correct,” he told RFI.
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Despite political disagreements, members of the Iranian diaspora in France say they share a profound admiration for the courage shown by protesters confronting Iran’s security forces.
According to Iran Human Rights Monitor, at least 1,956 executions were carried out in 2025, a 97 percent increase compared to the previous year. The majority were convicted of drug-related offences and murder.
Research by international rights group Amnesty found that many death sentences followed unfair trials, including use of “confessions” obtained under torture.
Amnesty said the surge in executions since the 2022 “Woman, Life, Freedom” protests reflects the use of the death penalty as a tool of repression, combining mass executions for drugs with targeted executions of dissidents and minorities.
