Iranian Researchers at Dutch Universities Face Crisis as Homeland Protests Turn Deadly
Eindhoven, Monday, 19 January 2026.
Academic life has become unbearable for Iranian researchers at Eindhoven University of Technology as thousands of protesters have been killed in Iran since December 2025. Communication blackouts starting January 8, 2026, have left faculty and students unable to contact family for days. One professor described seeing ‘piles of dead bodies and blood-stained streets’ while struggling to focus on research work.
Communication Blackout Isolates Academic Community
The crisis began in late December 2025 when protests erupted at Tehran’s Grand Bazaar due to economic hardship, subsequently spreading to universities and other cities across Iran [1]. Iranian security forces responded with violent crackdowns, leading to comprehensive internet and telephone shutdowns starting January 8, 2026 [1]. These communication restrictions have created a particularly acute crisis for Iranian academics abroad, who find themselves unable to reach family members and colleagues back home during this critical period.
Personal Toll on TU/e Faculty and Students
Ahmadreza Marandi, an assistant professor at TU/e’s Department of Industrial Engineering and Innovation Sciences, and his wife have been unable to contact their family in Iran since the internet shutdown began [1]. The psychological impact has been devastating for the academic community. “Seeing images of piles of dead bodies, blood-stained streets, and soldiers with machine guns, makes it feel as if all memories of my past have vanished,” Marandi explained during interviews conducted between January 14-16, 2026 [1]. The emotional strain extends beyond faculty to students, with one TU/e master’s student named Soroush describing the isolation: “Personally, I had no contact with my family for five days… I can honestly say I have never felt so lonely in my life as I did during those two days” [1].
Scale of Violence Documented by Human Rights Organizations
Human Rights Watch reported on January 16, 2026, that thousands of demonstrators have been killed and many arrested during the ongoing protests [1]. The violence has particularly targeted young people, with detailed accounts emerging from families attempting to identify victims. Iran Human Rights documented the case of Rubina Aminian, a 23-year-old student of textile and fashion design at Shariati College in Tehran, who was killed on January 8 after joining protest gatherings [3]. Her family’s ordeal illustrates the scale of casualties, as her mother stated: “It wasn’t just my daughter; I saw hundreds of bodies with my own eyes” when forced to search among the bodies of victims to identify their daughter [3]. Most victims were young people between 18 and 22 years old who had been shot at close range in the head and neck by government forces [3].
Academic Work Disrupted Amid Family Fears
The crisis has severely impacted the ability of Iranian researchers at TU/e to focus on their academic responsibilities [1]. Despite communication restrictions, some Iranians are using Starlink and VPNs to bypass the blockades, though this carries significant risks from the government [1]. The broader Iranian community in the Netherlands faces similar challenges, with Dutch-Iranian Parmida Baladi, a 29-year-old third-year accountancy student at Fontys in Eindhoven, expressing her anguish: “On days like these, I am everywhere and nowhere” [2]. Baladi, who obtained Dutch nationality last summer and fled to the Netherlands seven years ago, has been unable to contact friends who have been protesting for two weeks as of January 16, 2026 [2]. The Executive Board at TU/e has discussed the situation and plans a meeting with Iranian researchers to explore how the university can provide support [1], while TU Darmstadt has already issued a solidarity statement for its approximately 300 Iranian students [4].