Podcast Summary: Amanpour – "Iran's Deadly Crackdown on Protests"
Air date: January 13, 2026
Host: Bianna Golodryga (in for Christiane Amanpour)
Notable Guests: Nazanin Boniadi (actress/activist), Nina Khrushcheva (historian), Jacob Soborov (journalist), Kenneth Rosen (author)
Episode Overview
This episode of Amanpour explores the escalating crisis in Iran, with a harrowing portrait of the regime’s violent crackdown on mass protests. The discussion is anchored by firsthand insights from actress and activist Nazanin Boniadi, addressing both the scale of the violence and the growing pressure on the international community to respond. The episode also weaves in analysis of global connectedness, with conversations on the impact of the war in Ukraine, climate-driven power struggles in the Arctic, and California’s wildfire recovery.
Iran’s Crackdown: Voices from the Unrest
[02:30-15:04]
Context and Scale of the Violence
- The regime’s crackdown on anti-government protests is unprecedented in severity, with at least 1,850 protesters reported killed in just over two weeks, per U.S-based human rights groups.
- Grisly images and personal accounts paint a grim picture: families searching for loved ones amid body bags; forced public confessions for those retrieving the bodies of the dead.
- Iran is facing what some analysts term as the greatest existential threat to the regime since the 1979 revolution, intensified by the aftermath of the recent war with Israel, the weakening of Iranian proxies, and unpredictable international factors.
Memorable Quotes
“Much worse than you can imagine—the words of one Tehran resident.”
—Bianna Golodryga, [01:30]
"Millions of Iranians rising up across the country... it's unlike anything I’ve ever seen in the two decades I’ve been doing this work."
—Nazanin Boniadi, [03:43]
Communication Blackout
- The Iranian government has implemented a sweeping communications blackout, severely limiting internet and phone connectivity—signaling, according to Boniadi, a regime aware of its waning legitimacy.
- Starlink technology is cited as the last lifeline, enabling some information to get out.
“A government that thinks of itself as legitimate doesn’t take away its citizens' rights to communicate..."
—Nazanin Boniadi, [03:49]
What Protesters Want; International Response
- Protesters are not calling for incremental reform; the widespread demand now is for the downfall of the regime.
- Boniadi emphasizes the importance of immediate, concrete international action: diplomatic isolation of Iran, targeted cyber operations against military infrastructure, and urgent efforts to restore internet access.
"We’re hoping that some form of international assistance happens... There are many things we can do right now that we just aren’t doing."
—Nazanin Boniadi, [06:53]
- Notably, President Trump’s supportive statements have emboldened demonstrators, but material international help has not yet arrived.
Harrowing Reality on the Ground
- Reports describe "shoot-to-kill" orders, with doctors treating head wounds and mass casualties, and families of victims coerced into giving false confessions regarding their loved ones’ deaths.
"If their families arrive, they try to somehow help them escape. The families who come to receive the bodies... are forced into humiliating confessions."
—Tehran Businessman (via NYT), read by Bianna Golodryga, [08:22]
- Boniadi asserts the toll could be as high as 12,000 killed in recent weeks ([10:41]), and stresses that the world has thus far failed in meaningful multilateral action, partly due to Russian and Chinese vetoes at the UN.
"The ask from the people in Iran is very clear. Stand by us and not by the regime."
—Nazanin Boniadi, [10:59]
Role of Women & Evolution of Demands
- While explicit chants like “Woman, Life, Freedom” have faded, Boniadi insists that women remain at the movement’s core.
"Women have had everything to do with this moment. Woman, Life, Freedom has... galvanized people."
—Nazanin Boniadi, [12:15]
Prospects for Regime Change; Who Speaks for the People?
- Boniadi highlights growing grassroots support for Reza Pahlavi, the exiled crown prince, as the only name consistently heard in protest videos.
- She stresses, however, that Iran’s future must ultimately be determined by its people—be it monarchy or republic—through a fair, internationally monitored election.
“The only name I’ve heard in any video is the name of Reza Pahlavi... he appears to have a groundswell of support.”
—Nazanin Boniadi, [13:48]
Broader Geopolitical Contexts
Russian Crackdown and Lessons from Iran
[17:29-27:28]
- Historian Nina Khrushcheva discusses Russia’s rapid slide into dictatorship since the full-scale 2022 invasion of Ukraine: loss of internet freedoms, pervasive state control, and public apathy combining with private resistance.
- Khrushcheva compares the dynamics in Russia and Iran, noting that while Russia is not yet at Iran’s level of repression, Putin grows increasingly distrustful—especially in light of the regime changes in Iran and Venezuela.
- The psychological weight of the Gaddafi precedent and the fall of other strongmen looms in the Kremlin’s calculations.
“The more repression Russia has, the more I’m thinking Russia has moved on... 1984 still exists, but it’s actually Animal Farm.”
—Nina Khrushcheva, [26:53]
LA Wildfires: Aftermath and Political Blame Game
[27:30-37:26]
- Jacob Soborov reflects on losing his childhood home in the most destructive wildfire in U.S. history (“the fire of the future”) and the slow, inequitable recovery efforts.
- He reveals how housing in Los Angeles, the country’s most unaffordable city, is out of reach for fire survivors, with rebuilding stymied by lack of insurance payouts, rising costs, and immigration policies that have disrupted the labor force.
- Soborov details the influence of misinformation (from Trump and Musk) during the crisis and how it contributed to public confusion and hindered official response.
- He notes there is no single cause, and accountability is diffuse—spread across local and state leaders, infrastructure failures, and climate change.
“You don’t process watching your childhood home carbonize before your eyes as you cover it live on national television.”
—Jacob Soborov, [28:34]
The Struggle for the Arctic: Climate, Security, and Superpower Ambitions
[39:09-54:00]
- Author Kenneth Rosen and Walter Isaacson analyze how climate change is transforming the Arctic: shrinking ice opens new shipping routes, stirs geopolitical rivalry, and drives talk of U.S. acquisition of Greenland.
- Rosen notes Russia’s dominance in Arctic military capabilities and infrastructure, China’s push for a “Polar Silk Road,” and the shifting logic of rare earth mining and base-building as climate impacts worsen.
- The prospects for international cooperation—once a post–Cold War dream—are deteriorating as militarization and nationalist ambitions grow.
“It’s a long known facility of living in the cold regions that you will come to rely on your neighbor... no matter what kind of relationship you’ve had.”
—Kenneth Rosen, [53:26]
Notable Timestamps & Segments
- Iran protests and crackdown: [02:30–15:04]
- Role of women in the movement: [11:48–13:04]
- Reza Pahlavi and leadership debate: [13:04–14:40]
- Russian descent into tyranny: [17:29–27:28]
- LA wildfire recovery: [27:30–37:26]
- Geopolitics of the Arctic and ‘Polar War’: [39:09–54:00]
Conclusion
This episode paints a vivid picture of Iran at a crossroads, its society mobilized against an aging and violent regime as the world watches, often too passively. The conversation extends into Russia's own tightening controls, the fallout from natural (and political) disasters in the U.S., and the mounting competition for control of an ever-warmer Arctic.
Throughout, the central questions are clear: At what point does the international community act? Can new, shared challenges push nations toward cooperation—or only deeper conflict? The episode ends on a sobering note, with the fate of the Iranian protesters still hanging in the balance.
Memorable Quotes
-
“A government that thinks of itself as legitimate doesn’t take away its citizens’ rights to communicate... this blackout is very telling.”
—Nazanin Boniadi [03:49] -
“Every piece of information that’s reaching us, only because of Starlink, is proving that that's not the case."
—Nazanin Boniadi [09:19] -
“At this point, the ask from the people in Iran is very clear. Stand by us and not by the regime.”
—Nazanin Boniadi [10:59] -
“The more repression Russia has, the more I’m thinking Russia has moved on... 1984 still exists, but it’s actually Animal Farm.”
—Nina Khrushcheva [26:53] -
“It’s the fire of the future... a minute by minute account of what it is like to be there inside this fire...”
—Jacob Soborov [28:35] -
“We are stronger together in the north... you will come to rely on your neighbor and your neighbor will come to rely on you.”
—Kenneth Rosen [53:23]
For listeners who missed it:
This episode is a sobering, urgent account of repression, heroism, and the questions that international inaction leaves hanging. It is essential listening for anyone seeking to understand today’s global inflection points, from the streets of Tehran to the melting ice of the Arctic.