How Iranian monarchists have targeted anti-war activists

“We’re going to find you, we’re going to rape you, we’re going to kill you.”

This is just one of hundreds of messages that Arjang Alidai, an Iranian-British engineer based in the UK, has received from monarchist compatriots in recent months.

Alidai first became a target after he voted in the 2024 Iranian presidential election, which many anti-government Iranians boycotted. They viewed voters as complicit with the Islamic Republic, and many now see Iranians who oppose the US-Israeli war on Iran in the same light.

Alidai describes a relentless campaign of intimidation, which significantly increased when protests broke out in Iran in January. 

Read more: How Iranian monarchists have targeted anti-war activists