Iranian Solidarity Group New Zealand acknowledges with
profound grief that more
than 30,000 people are reported to have been killed in Iran
within a two-day period during the January 2026
protests, marking one of the deadliest crackdowns by a
government against its own people in modern
history.
In response to the Islamic Republic
regime’s extreme violence and systematic repression, the
European
Union has formally designated the Islamic Revolutionary
Guard Corps (IRGC) as a terrorist organisation. This
historic step recognises the IRGC’s central role in mass
killings, torture, enforced disappearances, and the violent
suppression of peaceful protests inside Iran and beyond its
borders.
The EU has also significantly expanded its
sanctions regime against Iran. To date, approximately 247
individuals and more than 50 entities — including senior
Iranian officials, IRGC commanders, members of the
judiciary, security forces, and state-linked organisations
— are subject to EU sanctions for serious human rights
violations. In its most recent sanctions package alone, the
EU
targeted 15 individuals and 6 entities directly linked to
the latest atrocities.
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Iranian Solidarity Group
New Zealand welcomes these actions and now calls on the New
Zealand Government to follow suit and stand firmly on the
side of human rights and international law.
We urge
the New Zealand Government to:
- Designate the IRGC
as a terrorist entity in New Zealand; - Expel the
Iranian ambassador, and at a minimum summon him for formal
questioning; - Recall New Zealand’s ambassador in
Iran (we acknowledge our embassy is temporarily closed in
Tehran); - Introduce an urgent family reunification
visa pathway for Iranians in New Zealand, as the situation
in Iran is dangerously volatile and no one feels
safe. - Establish a humanitarian visa programme for
those injured by the Islamic Republic regime to receive
medical treatment and protection in New
Zealand
The Iranian community in Aotearoa New
Zealand is experiencing deep collective trauma. Families
remain cut off from loved ones amid prolonged internet
shutdowns, many knowing someone who has been killed or
disappeared. Concrete action from the New Zealand Government
would provide vital reassurance that Iranians are not facing
this crisis alone.
New Zealand has a history of
standing against injustice. Now is the time to
act.
