As uncertainty continues over efforts to secure a lasting agreement between the United States and Iran after 90 days of conflict, some Iranians who fled the country say they fear the Islamic Republic is emerging more repressive rather than weakened.

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Karvan, 22, and his younger brother Kavian left Iran on May 13 after months in hiding following their involvement in anti-government demonstrations. The brothers are now sheltering in Iraq’s Kurdistan region after abandoning their studies, relatives and friends.

“Our lives were in danger. If we had stayed, we would have faced jail and execution,” Karvan told CBS News.

Kavian said conditions deteriorated after a ceasefire between Washington and Tehran was announced earlier this year.

“During the war, the situation was chaotic, but after the ceasefire the regime became even more extreme against the people,” he said.

Protests and repression

The brothers participated in the 2022 “Woman, Life, Freedom” protests, which erupted after the death of Mahsa Amini while in police custody. Both men are members of Iran’s Kurdish minority and come from the country’s western Kurdish region, where tensions with Iran’s ruling authorities have long persisted.

They also joined demonstrations that spread across Iran earlier this year before security forces suppressed the unrest. President Donald Trump said 32,000 people were killed in the crackdown, though the figure has not been independently verified. Rights groups say tens of thousands were detained and multiple executions have taken place.

Karvan said witnessing the demonstrations gave the brothers a sense of responsibility.

“We felt the tension, and we saw how people were arrested and injured,” he said. “It gave us a feeling of purpose to participate in the demonstrations and make our voices heard.”

Kavian described confrontations between protesters and security forces, including the use of tear gas and other crowd-control measures.

Life after the ceasefire

Although indirect negotiations between the United States and Iran have continued since the April 8 ceasefire announcement, the brothers said the truce did little to improve daily life for ordinary Iranians.

“We felt that the regime started going after people again,” Karvan said. He alleged that authorities accused protesters of being Israeli spies and detained people for photographing bombed sites.

The brothers said security measures in Kurdish regions have intensified, with more checkpoints and frequent inspections of phones and identification documents.

Rights groups have also warned of a rise in arrests and executions. Zhila Mostajer, an investigator with the Hengaw Organization for Human Rights, said people risk severe punishment for speaking out against the government.

“Under such a brutal regime it is possible to be detained, tortured and even get executed just for raising your voice,” she told CBS News.

According to Hengaw, around 40,000 people were detained during protests earlier this year. While many have since been released, the organization says 31 detainees have received death sentences and 15 have already been executed.

No plans to return

Karvan said leaving Iran was painful but necessary.

“It was very hard for us, but we chose to take the risk because we are safer here,” he said.

The brothers said they do not intend to return while the Islamic Republic remains in power. They also expressed frustration that international attention often focuses more on Iran’s nuclear programme and regional tensions than on the treatment of its citizens.

“They always talk about how uranium is a danger if it is in the regime’s hands,” Karvan said. “If you truly knew how they treat their people, you would never let them enrich uranium.”

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Adapted by ASEAN Now. Source 29 May 2026

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That is a very reasonable fear as it appears that Trump fails at nearly everything that he attempts to do, and that includes ridiculous wars of choice.

My guess is that he will withdraw with his tail between his legs, and claim a false victory having accomplished nothing except destruction of the world economy and more turmoil, but that's why we call him Mr. Chaos, isn't it? Hopefully the Strait will be reopened, but that puts us back exactly where we were at the beginning.

The amount of chaos Trump has caused for the entire planet with his unnecessary forever war is astounding. It was sich a bad choice and the timing could not have been worse, as the world economy is already challenged enough. This means nothing to him as his wealth continues to grow through massive corruption.

What did Don and his thick headed advisors think was going to happen with the strait and why did they think they could handle the consequences of this recklessness?

One of the biggest liabilities that Trump had leading up to this war was the decision to use two absolute imbeciles in the form of Witkoff and Kushner. They are both rabid Zionists, they both deliberately lied to Iran during the negotiations in order to fool them into thinking that the US was sincere, and look at the outcome that we have.

The thing that a very tiny mind like Trump doesn't get is that Iran will not negotiate with the US at this point. Many reports are coming out that Witkoff is begging the Iranian foreign minister for meetings and his calls are not being returned.

The US has backed themselves into a corner and the economic devastation has been way beyond what they anticipated, and the price they're going to pay for this in the midterms is going to be brutal. Unchecked inflation, rising unemployment, the closing of hundreds of thousands of small businesses, no return of manufacturing to the US, a shortage of labor due to extreme and short sighted immigration policy, and the abandonment of any hope that Trump would improve the quality of life for Americans, but instead we get sabotage of those hopes for the entire planet.

Trump deserves severe punishment for this act and hopefully the midterms will inflict some of that. America will be reaping the blowback for years to come and nobody knows how long the chaos will last.

Don's demise will be a good thing, as Trump will lose his power and he will just become a whiny gutter trash punk, will have to deal with being doubly impotent, and hopefully he will eventually disappear into oblivion. Morbid sickness is quite likely, considering his rapid decline, and his three or four cheeseburger a day diet.

See ya Don. You will not be missed, the world will celebrate your demise with such glee, millions will take to the streets and welcome the return of civility, decency, honor, grace and hope.

Don is a simpleton nimwit, being advised by people that he picked from the absolute bottom of the barrel, but that's just Don. It's a shame because tens of millions of people thought he was somebody else. And he sure is showing his true colors now.

Well engaging in serious actions against a standing government including in arm conflict comes with consequences. If you succeed you get a new country. If you fail you could die. This is normal everywhere.

You go to a casino with money in your pocket. If you lose it just walk away lick your wounds and think about what to do next. One thing you can’t do is to expect the casino to give your money back or someone else covering your loss.

Likely they fear it as they are the next group to be deported.

I don't blame them for being edgy .... (the way the media reports it)... the 42,000 people who died at the hands of the regime waiting for promises made but promises not kept have every right to be nervous

1 hour ago, wombat said:

I don't blame them for being edgy .... (the way the media reports it)... the 42,000 people who died at the hands of the regime waiting for promises made but promises not kept have every right to be nervous

The 42000 people who died have every right to be nervous?
I would be very careful with those numbers, very likely to be incorrect.

Of course the US will leave the regime intact. Their planes, if they even existed which I don't believe, have failed. The US doesn't case about the people, it just felt forced to join Israel.

1 minute ago, stevenl said:

The 42000 people who died have every right to be nervous?
I would be very careful with those numbers, very likely to be incorrect.

Of course the US will leave the regime intact. Their planes, if they even existed which I don't believe, have failed. The US doesn't case about the people, it just felt forced to join Israel.

You don't believe the US has planes?

Love him or loathe him Trump has really messed up by failing to adopt a sound strategy in the war against Iran. It is more than likely the regime will remain in place when all is said and done.

left the clown show 20 years ago.

Only winners can perform regime change. Trump replaced one ayatollah with another. He has already lost.

1 minute ago, Purdey said:

Only winners can perform regime change. Trump replaced one ayatollah with another. He has already lost.

Do you believe Iran should be allowed to continue developing their intercontinental ballistic missile, military drone, and nuclear weapons programs?

Trump cares about Trump and his billionaire cronies.

Of course he never cared at all for the well being of the Iranian people, any more than he ever cared about the well being of the Venezualan people, etc.

He doesn't even care about the well being of American people.

His policies have been particularly hard on his own maga fascist base, and every other American (who are the majority) he frames as enemies.

12 minutes ago, Yellowtail said:

Do you believe Iran should be allowed to continue developing their intercontinental ballistic missile, military drone, and nuclear weapons programs?

There is no objective evidence that proves that Iran is actively pursuing the development of a nuclear weapon. It was the recently departed Tulsi Gabbard's assessment that it was not, until a vengeful Trump forced her into a u-turn because it didn't fit his false narrative. Its uprade in enrichment was likely a negotiating tactic to bring the west back to the negotiating table, after Trump petulantly ripped up the Obama-era agreement. The Ayatollah had issued a fatwa, expressly forbidding it. According to Netanyahu, who was adamant Sadam Hussein had WMD, Iran was months away from the bomb in the early 1990s. You are mistaking Israeli propaganda for objective truth. Bibi wanted a war, and suckered the hapless Trump into joining in.

Very few mentions of Israel in these replies.

Strange, because they were the ones who provoked this whole disaster.

22 hours ago, stevenl said:

I would be very careful with those numbers, very likely to be incorrect.

Are you trying to say that the media does not tell the truth?

My wife and unborn child are shocked at the thought

19 hours ago, Yellowtail said:

Do you believe Iran should be allowed to continue developing their intercontinental ballistic missile, military drone, and nuclear weapons programs?

That's a big no from me... I stand with my bottom line assessment

19 hours ago, Summerinsiam said:

There is no objective evidence that proves that Iran is actively pursuing the development of a nuclear weapon. It was the recently departed Tulsi Gabbard's assessment that it was not, until a vengeful Trump forced her into a u-turn because it didn't fit his false narrative. Its uprade in enrichment was likely a negotiating tactic to bring the west back to the negotiating table, after Trump petulantly ripped up the Obama-era agreement. The Ayatollah had issued a fatwa, expressly forbidding it. According to Netanyahu, who was adamant Sadam Hussein had WMD, Iran was months away from the bomb in the early 1990s. You are mistaking Israeli propaganda for objective truth. Bibi wanted a war, and suckered the hapless Trump into joining in.

What is all the highly enriched uranium for, if not a bomb?

And what about the intercontinental ballistic missile and military drone programs?

12 hours ago, CMHomeboy78 said:

Very few mentions of Israel in these replies.

Strange, because they were the ones who provoked this whole disaster.

And there I would've sworn that the events from the seventh created this whole scenario

22 hours ago, stevenl said:

The 42000 people who died have every right to be nervous?

I claim the heat and poetic license for that obvious nonsense with the benefit of hindsight

2 minutes ago, Yellowtail said:

What is all the highly enriched uranium for, if not a bomb?

And what about the intercontinental ballistic missile and military drone programs?

Leverage.

What about them? Should they be defenceless because you are afraid?

Why aren't you asking the same questions about North Korea or Israel?

A western news article says that 'iranians' fear that without any actual evidence, percentages of iranians that agree on that and so on and on. Cliche western BS propaganda for the old people. Let me guess, this came from a individual who was likely gay too and then made it to EU to then speak for 'his entire country and population.

Same with the repeated nonsense, crying over a country that had XX,XXX deaths over their internal issues, while in the same time illegally invading countries, targeting girl schools, civilians, medics and more, to the tune of millions of death as a result, started by israel/usa.

The repeated reasons, they will attack us first. Well perhaps, they should just all Fk off from the middle east, to solve that. It's not ours. Let the dessert rule itself, not our problem.

Not to even start about the fact that we actively give finance/weapons etc to groups, to literally start killing other people, to then later on turn our backs on them and then suddenly they are called terrorists. Lol. To then be surprised they attack us back too lmao.

Even a non-biased child could realize and figure out that 5 and 5 is 10.

9 minutes ago, FigLeaf said:

Leverage.

What about them? Should they be defenceless because you are afraid?

Why aren't you asking the same questions about North Korea or Israel?

Is having highly enriched uranium for leverage not evidence of a nuclear bomb program?

8 minutes ago, Spider5511 said:

A western news article says that 'iranians' fear that without any actual evidence, percentages of iranians that agree on that and so on and on. Cliche western BS propaganda for the old people. Let me guess, this came from a individual who was likely gay too and then made it to EU to then speak for 'his entire country and population.

Same with the repeated nonsense, crying over a country that had XX,XXX deaths over their internal issues, while in the same time illegally invading countries, targeting girl schools, civilians, medics and more, to the tune of millions of death as a result, started by israel/usa.

The repeated reasons, they will attack us first. Well perhaps, they should just all Fk off from the middle east, to solve that. It's not ours. Let the dessert rule itself, not our problem.

Iran has been attacking the US and others for decades.

5 minutes ago, wombat said:

And there I would've sworn that the events from the seventh created this whole scenario

You are quite wrong if you think this whole event wasn't planned long before that.

The stated aim of it's founders, many decades ago, was to have the Palestinians surrounded in small enclaves within a greater Israel. They will push and provoke and then collectively punish.

There won't ever be an end to it due to the injustice, supported by the USA.

The Peace to Posterity Plan during Trump first term was simply a means to that end. He's been lead by the nose by the Israelis time and time again. Jared's next push was for the Gaza Riviera.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2020_Israel–Palestine_peace_plan

On 5/29/2026 at 4:32 AM, webfact said:

Karvan, 22, and his younger brother Kavian left Iran on May 13 after months in hiding following their involvement in anti-government demonstrations. The brothers are now sheltering in Iraq’s Kurdistan region after abandoning their studies, relatives and friends.

“Our lives were in danger. If we had stayed, we would have faced jail and execution,” Karvan told CBS News.

Kavian said conditions deteriorated after a ceasefire between Washington and Tehran was announced earlier this year.

“During the war, the situation was chaotic, but after the ceasefire the regime became even more extreme against the people,” he said.

If the two brothers were part of movement attempting to violently overthrow Thailand, would they face consequences of caught?
If the two brothers were part of movement attempting to violently overthrow the United States, would they face consequences of caught?
If the two brothers were part of movement attempting to violently overthrow an EU countries, would they face consequences of caught?

The hard fact is that the US wants a violent overthrow of the current Iranian government and a return to how things were under the Pahlavi (Shah of Iran - a brutal dictatorship controlled by the West) regime. In fact, that is about the only "conditions" that are acceptable to the US. Trump even admitted to sending weapons to the Kurd in the North of Iran for the violent overthrow, although the Kurds seemed to have kept the weapons themselves. Image Russia and China sending weapons to Cartels in Mexico if they agree to destabilize the governments of the Southern US states by force of arms?

Everything past that - including this news article - are part and parcel of an information war to convince Western audiences that Iran needs to be overthrown by force of arms. Nothing new here as the United States and colonial European countries have been overthrowing smaller, weaker countries since I was born including the overthrow of the Democratically elected PM of Iran, Mohammad Mosaddegh, in 1953 by the CIA in order to establish the puppet government of the Shah and to hand over control of all of Iran's oil resources to British Petroleum and other Western corporations. And the US continues to overthrow sovereign governments today. It never ends, it's just one big cycle of never ending violence toward smaller and vulnerable countries in order to gain free access to their resources.

To paraphrase James (It's the economy stupid) Carville, "It's the OIL stupid."

4 minutes ago, Yellowtail said:

Iran has been attacking the US and others for decades.

In retaliation...always.

8 minutes ago, Yellowtail said:

Is having highly enriched uranium for leverage not evidence of a nuclear bomb program?

No, It was leverage to force Trump to drop the sanctions after withdrawing from the JCPOA. To that end, do you think that he has improved on the JCPOA terms or made things worse?

9 minutes ago, Yellowtail said:

Iran has been attacking the US and others for decades.

No they did not, that was the consequence of what was done to Iran. Stop trying to spin it around and perhaps learn your history timelines properly, as it is not that difficult or hard to understand at all. The facts are all there, even more with all the released things of what USA governments did (formerly classified).

The entire protests in Iran were triggered by a false flag that USA and Israel created, but it did not work as they hoped. All this poor iranians that died in those protests, were told that USA would come to save them right away, in the same moment, which they didn't.

That effectively means israel and usa are responsible for each and all of those deaths. It is like telling someone to deal drugs in saudi arabia, and that you will make sure he not get arrested.

7 minutes ago, FigLeaf said:

In retaliation...always.

In retaliation for what?

8 minutes ago, Yellowtail said:

In retaliation for what?

The 1953 Western-backed coup which overthrew Prime Minister Mohammad Mosaddegh, who had attempted to nationalize Iran's oil industry.

12 minutes ago, Yellowtail said:

In retaliation for what?

Give me an event and I'll pull up a timeline.