I stood outside the U.S. Consulate in Melbourne as Iranians gathered, desperate to be heard. They weren’t chanting for slogans or ideology. They were chanting for freedom, and for help, as protests rage back home under an information blackout.

🚨 Iranian protester delivers a chilling WARNING every Australian must hear

'Be careful of radical Islam here... if you stay silent, Australia in the future is going to go through the same thing that Iran is going through right now'

FULL VIDEO: https://t.co/coeoDvwXPX pic.twitter.com/KKyTYFCeeP

— Avi Yemini (@OzraeliAvi) January 13, 2026

One man told me plainly, “It’s time to take action against a terrorist regime that has been killing, torturing and suppressing our people for 47 years.” Another woman who had fled Iran told me what it is really like living under the radical Islamic regime. “Once they silence the protest, they just start killing people,” she said.

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Over and over, people told me they had lost contact with family. “We still didn’t hear anything from our family since Thursday,” one woman said. “Everyone’s lost their connection… they’re killing people.” Another told me, “I haven’t talked to my family for the last five days. We don’t know if they are still alive or if they’re dead.”

🔴 LIVE: Iranians plead with TRUMP as their people are being SLAUGHTERED back home https://t.co/E1XeF4rbV4

— Avi Yemini (@OzraeliAvi) January 13, 2026

Many directed their pleas straight at Donald Trump. “We want Trump to help the people inside my country,” one protester said. “I’m 100% sure Trump gonna help us… but we need help right now.” Another was more blunt: “I want Trump to strike.”

 

 

What struck me just as much was the anger at silence closer to home. One protester asked, “Where are you hypocrites? Why you don’t say free Iran?” pointing out that Melbourne has seen years of pro-Palestine rallies, yet little support now. “If you really care for people’s lives, you should be here,” she said.

No matter who I talked to, the message stayed the same: Iranians feel abandoned, hunted and unheard. “Please act now, Donald Trump,” one pleaded. “Please make our country free.”