Challenges of Iranian Voices Amid Middle Eastern Conflicts

Tue Mar 17 2026 16:21:58 GMT+0000 (Coordinated Universal Time)

Iranian American creators are navigating communication roadblocks as they strive to share diverse perspectives on the war unfolding in the Middle East, particularly influenced by the internet blackout in Iran.

In the wake of escalating conflict in the Middle East, Iranian American social media creators face significant hurdles in capturing and conveying the voices of those in Iran. With government-imposed internet blackouts limiting communication, creators like Ariana Afshar share insights based on their experiences and interactions with family in Iran. With the online search interest soaring, the creators offer diverse perspectives on the war, but their influence has also raised concerns about potential misrepresentation within the diaspora. The reliance on external narratives complicates the discourse, as many Iranians grapple with the realities of living through conflict.

NEW YORK (AP) — Iranian American Ariana Afshar has tried to produce commentary about the first weeks of the war in the Middle East based on the perspectives of people in Iran.

But the New York-based social media creator keeps running into an obstacle: An internet blackout imposed by the government in Tehran has stifled almost all communications from the country. That makes it nearly impossible to reliably survey perspectives on the escalating conflict from inside Iran, where Afshar lived as a teenager and still has family.

That absence has amplified the voices of Iranian American social media creators, who are now explaining the nation’s complicated history and the conflicting desires of its citizens in succinct videos that are widely shared online. Their content is geared toward the surging demand for information in the U.S., where online searches like why are we at war with Iran increased by 3,000% in the first week of March, according to Google Search Trends. Some creators and observers say the disproportionate influence of voices outside of Iran has exacerbated deep rifts in the diaspora, which includes about 750,000 people in the United States, according to the Pew Research Center.

“I think it’s a huge problem among the Iranian diaspora, where they speak for Iranians a lot. I don’t want to fall into that,” said Afshar, who has roughly 350,000 followers on Instagram and TikTok.

In her own online activity, she mostly critiques pro-war perspectives based on her experience growing up in both countries. In the rare moments when she is able to reach relatives, they are often too afraid to share their true feelings about the war and the government.

Some creators support the war, saying the fear of conflict pales in comparison to a government that killed thousands of people in January during a crackdown on dissent. Others have pointed to obliterated infrastructure and mounting casualties — including more than 165 killed by a strike on an elementary school — as a warning of more carnage to come, citing previous U.S. wars in Iraq and Afghanistan as precedent.

In many wars, citizens are able to supplement official reporting with first-person accounts posted on social media and widely shared, but digital blackouts and fear of government retaliation have severely limited that in Iran. The Associated Press and other news outlets have some journalists reporting inside Iran, but limited communications make getting their reporting out challenging at times.

However, online, bad information still thrives on social media and in messaging apps like Telegram, where millions of people subscribe to groups where inaccurate content is easily shared. False information seemingly designed to favor the U.S. has also proliferated, including videos claiming that Iran was behind the strike on the school.

A 35-year-old Iranian living in New York, who asked not to be named for fear of retaliation against relatives in Iran, said her family WhatsApp chat illustrates the blackout’s harm. In brief opportunities to connect, the chat has been a go-to for scraps of news her relatives cannot easily access.

Despite these obstacles, the Iranian diaspora remains eager for accurate stories to leak out, showcasing the community's need for authentic representation and a voice amid ongoing turmoil.