Perhaps we know, but the reasons will be unpopular.
and the islamic regime was a sponsor of previous pro-palestine movements.
leftists don't find this an appealing mix. they'd rather blame Israel for everything, but here we see Iranians siding with the Israelis because they've seen what islam does to their country.
This is very different from Israel, where our govts are actively supporting a genocide. That requires activism to change course.
Why would people demonstrate if everyone is aligned?
Unfortunately, ABC and NBC haven't found a way to blame Trump for what's happening in Iran. Highlighting the atrocities perpetuated in the name of Islam is more likely to help Trump than hurt him, so this story must be minimized. It's just good, smart politics.
China in Tibet, China's treatment of the Uyghurs, Russia's war against Ukraine, Kony 2012 etc, there are lots of causes where the local government in whichever country you look at isn't actively involved, yet there was a lot more public noise and campaigns.
I don't know what the answer is, but "my government doesn't deliver weapons to them" hasn't been a reason before, so I don't see why it would be now.
“Human beings are members of a whole
In creation of one essence and soul
If one member is afflicted with pain
Other members uneasy will remain
If you have no sympathy for human pain
The name of human you cannot retain”
—Saadi, Persian poet
The only NGO looking for Iran exclusively is Iran Human Right (https://iranhr.net/en/) and depend on the UNHRC, which is not particularly media trained and not good at reacting (also, they lost US funding less than a year ago and are reorganizing as we speak).
In the end, it will be like Yemen or Sudan all over again: media hear of the massacre late, send journalists, journalists get refused, they send journalists to neighboring countries and infiltrate with local guide help, some journalist dies, and three month after the beginning of the trouble we will get images and information.
The Uighur is easy: Nike and a lots of western brand used Chinese work camps. In my neighborhood that's what people protested, not really Chinese treatment of their minority, but the fact our brands used slave labor. Nike and all no promised they wouldn't use slave again, the Uighur are still discriminated and forcefully sterilized, no one care anymore in the West.
Russia war against Ukraine is very different, it's the first war in Europe since the 90s, and the first "real" war in europe since 45 (I guarantee you if Ukraine folded in 3 days, no one would have said much). Also, Europe is financing the Russian war economy, which is easy to protest.
> What explains the silence from activists outside Iran on this particular issue?
What explains the silence from the media on all other conflicts. It's certainly not because lives are not being destroyed in Sudan [1] and Myanmar [2].
I think its simpler. There is no one white involved. What is unique about Israel is that most of its population is white so its an issue worth covering (for people backing either side). The same with Ukraine. On the other hand what happens in Eritrea or Sudan or Myanmar or Xinjiang does not matter.
US isn’t arming or funding or enabling Iran directly, so calls for US action would mean call to war, which US leadership has already been signaling.
Maybe you think US should go to war. Regardless that’s the biggest difference.
There are also frankly many who are confused about Iran - sympathizing with Iran leadership as enemies of IDF and not understanding who they are and what they do. Lack of video going around doesn’t help.
And the outrage wasn’t always directed at the government. We don’t see Iranian students in the US being attacked. We don’t see Iranian places of worship in the US being attacked. We don’t see as much outrage in the comments on HN - there were some event justifying it.
Iran's population is also overwhelmingly pro-West.
Not exactly. There's a singular exception which has received torrential "coverage".
Are you under the illusion that the Palestinians funded and built their previous infrastructure? Lol.
[0] https://www.state.gov/reports/2022-report-on-international-r...
On the topic of Politicians, Democratic congressmen like Dave Min and Jim Hines have also spoken in favor of US intervention in Iran.
[1] https://www.cbsnews.com/video/full-interview-exiled-iranian-...
[2] https://youtu.be/jk6wfvje8Zo
[3] https://www.cnn.com/2026/01/23/world/video/iran-united-state...
And the neoliberal west has more in common with Israel than Iran, I don't quite understand why you choose to write broad political comments if you don't have the basic background knowledge that would be needwd in this discussion.
The US government wasn't a friend of Kony in 2012. Before Trump 2, the US were not that friendly with Russia, yet people protested in many places around the world to show support for Ukraine and to voice their opposition to Russia's imperialistic wars, being aligned with their governments' position.
It's different with Iran. Some of that is likely to be Iran's lower profile, but not all -- it's not like media outlets are not reporting on it at all and you have to get your information from niche sources to hear about events in Iran.
The way I see it, any support for Iranians will be co-opted to start a war with Iran, which will be a disaster.
This isn't the case for Israel / Gaza, which is what I assume you're alluding to when you talk about activism.
The entirety of the world does not run on Western neoliberal lens and every region has had its history and challenges and fights that due to cognitive limits during discussion are never given their legitimate space.
This can apply to grooming gangs in UK, the conditions of minorities in middle east (Yazidis or others)
An individual who might have an issue with a broad ideology that considers all non believers as subhuman to be converted, killed or brought into the said ideology by hook or crook can be motivated with their own experiences.
Israel has already grabbed a huge amount of Gaza after the genocide and Trumps "peace". And in the west bank they have ramped up the annexation as well. Israel has been swallowing Palestine while driving away Palestinians for more than 75 years now.
An apartheid state is not going to give the second class ethnic group any concessions.
If the US were serious about the well-being of Iranian people they'd stop trying to screw the economy and foment violent unrest, but of course that is not what they are interested in. They want war. They want regime change. They want balkanisation.