Iranian Solidarity Group New Zealand Condemns Mass Killings In Iran And Urges New Zealand To Act

Iranian Solidarity Group New Zealand acknowledges with profound grief that more than 30,000 people are reported to have been killed in Iran within a two-day period during the January 2026 protests, marking one of the deadliest crackdowns by a government against its own people in modern history.

In response to the Islamic Republic regime’s extreme violence and systematic repression, the European Union has formally designated the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) as a terrorist organisation. This historic step recognises the IRGC’s central role in mass killings, torture, enforced disappearances, and the violent suppression of peaceful protests inside Iran and beyond its borders.

The EU has also significantly expanded its sanctions regime against Iran. To date, approximately 247 individuals and more than 50 entities — including senior Iranian officials, IRGC commanders, members of the judiciary, security forces, and state-linked organisations — are subject to EU sanctions for serious human rights violations. In its most recent sanctions package alone, the EU targeted 15 individuals and 6 entities directly linked to the latest atrocities.

Iranian Solidarity Group New Zealand welcomes these actions and now calls on the New Zealand Government to follow suit and stand firmly on the side of human rights and international law.

We urge the New Zealand Government to:

• Designate the IRGC as a terrorist entity in New Zealand;
• Expel the Iranian ambassador, and at a minimum summon him for formal questioning;
• Recall New Zealand’s ambassador in Iran (we acknowledge our embassy is temporarily closed in Tehran);
• Introduce an urgent family reunification visa pathway for Iranians in New Zealand, as the situation in Iran is dangerously volatile and no one feels safe.
• Establish a humanitarian visa programme for those injured by the Islamic Republic regime to receive medical treatment and protection in New Zealand

The Iranian community in Aotearoa New Zealand is experiencing deep collective trauma. Families remain cut off from loved ones amid prolonged internet shutdowns, many knowing someone who has been killed or disappeared. Concrete action from the New Zealand Government would provide vital reassurance that Iranians are not facing this crisis alone.

New Zealand has a history of standing against injustice. Now is the time to act.

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