Davos Dissent and Prison Horrors: The Growing Case for an EU Policy Shift on Iran

As the World Economic Forum convened in Davos this week, Iranian diaspora members confronted global elites with a stark message: their country is being torn apart by a regime that systematically rapes women in detention and murders protesters in the streets.

The demonstrations at Davos coincided with viral reports of sexual violence against women held in Iranian prisons, presenting the European Union with an urgent test of whether its foreign policy can match its stated commitment to human rights and gender equality.

Voices from the Alpine Protest

"Free Iran. King Reza Pahlavi. We're Persian, we're not Muslims. Stand with the people, not with terrorists," chanted protesters in the streets of Davos, according to video shared widely on social media. The demonstration targeted world leaders and business executives attending the annual summit, demanding action against the regime in Tehran.

The World Economic Forum responded to the pressure by withdrawing an invitation to Iran's Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi. "The tragic loss of lives of civilians in Iran over the past few weeks means that it is not right for the Iranian government to be represented at Davos this year," the organisation said on X.

The snub marked a significant diplomatic embarrassment for Tehran, which had hoped to use Davos to improve its international image amid the crackdown.

The Horror Inside Iran's Prisons

Reports emerging from Iran describe systematic sexual violence against detained women. According to messages relayed by activists, female prisoners have asked their families to bring emergency contraception pills, a grim indicator of what they face in custody.

The accounts align with documented patterns of abuse. The Iran Human Rights Documentation Center has chronicled how Iranian authorities use rape to crush detainees' spirits, inflict humiliation, discourage dissent, and force confessions. A March 2024 report from the UN's Independent Fact-Finding Mission confirmed instances of sexual violence including gang rape against women detained during protests.

Human Rights Watch's Nahid Naghshbandi has described the brutality as "not only an egregious crime but a weapon of injustice wielded against detainees to coerce them into false confessions."

The France-based Kurdistan Human Rights Network has reported security forces assaulting detainees during transfer, including two protesters, one aged just 16, who said they were sexually assaulted by Iranian security forces in Kermanshah.

The Revolution Continues

Despite the regime's brutal response, Iranians continue to resist. Images circulated online show protesters raising the Lion and Sun flag, the pre-revolutionary symbol adopted by the democracy movement, as an IRGC-affiliated mosque in Tehran's Narmak district burns.

The protests, which began on 28 December 2025 over the collapsing Iranian rial, have expanded into the largest anti-government demonstrations since 2022. Estimates of those killed range from several thousand to over 16,000, making this one of the deadliest crackdowns in modern Iranian history.

Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei has made an unusual admission that "several thousands" died, though his regime blames foreign agents rather than its own security forces.

The Iranian diaspora has mobilised globally. Germany alone held 27 solidarity rallies in ten days, according to reports. A rally in Toronto reportedly drew 110,000 people. The message from these demonstrations is consistent: the international community must stop engaging with a regime that kills its own citizens.

Europe's Moment of Truth

The European Parliament has already taken unprecedented action, banning all Iranian diplomats and representatives from its premises. Parliament President Roberta Metsola declared: "This House will not aid in legitimising this regime that has sustained itself through torture, repression, and murder."

EU foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas is pushing for fresh sanctions, with the European External Action Service confirming it stands ready to propose new measures targeting individuals and entities accused of serious human rights violations. More than 230 individuals and 40 entities in Iran, including the IRGC, are already under EU sanctions.

Yet critics argue the EU has not gone far enough. The Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps remains undesignated as a terrorist organisation, despite documented involvement in attacks on European soil. Some member states, including France, Spain, and Italy, have resisted full designation, citing concerns about diplomatic channels needed for hostage negotiations.

The EU's own reporting on the massacre inside Iran paints a damning picture. Masked militias fire into homes while chanting loyalty to Khamenei. Families must pay so-called "bullet money" to retrieve the bodies of their murdered children. The scale of killing in two weeks of protests has exceeded civilian deaths in two years of conflict in Gaza.

For a bloc that defines itself by its commitment to human rights and gender equality, continued diplomatic engagement with Tehran becomes increasingly difficult to justify. The question is not whether the EU should shift its policy, but how quickly and decisively it can act.

What the Protesters Want

The opposition remains fragmented. Crown Prince Reza Pahlavi, who recently declared his intention to return to Iran, commands significant support among diaspora communities. Others favour a republic without any connection to the former monarchy.

What unites them is the demand for regime change. At Davos, as in cities across the world, the message was unambiguous: no more negotiations with a government that rapes women, murders teenagers, and imposes digital blackouts to hide its crimes from the world.

The EU must decide whether to continue treating Tehran as a difficult but legitimate negotiating partner, or to recognise what protesters on the streets of Davos and Tehran already know: the Islamic Republic has forfeited any claim to international respectability.

Europe's values are not merely words in treaties. They are commitments that demand action when women are gang-raped in prisons, when 16-year-old protesters are sexually assaulted by security forces, when thousands die in the streets demanding the same freedoms Europeans take for granted.

The Iranian people are not asking the EU to fight their revolution for them. They are asking Europe to stop providing legitimacy to their tormentors. That, at minimum, the bloc should be able to deliver.