(c) Heather Christie

It’s easy to support a cause when it’s hot, when it’s in the spotlight, when the world’s media outlets have zeroed in with their beaming cycloptic lenses.  But interest in most events tends to drop off quickly.  Stories lose their legs, no longer slug- or even tweet-worthy, eclipsed by the next “newsworthy” topic.

But this has been different with Iran. Largely thanks to the scale of Western anxiety over Iran’s nuclear programme, but also a keener awareness of the gravity of middle eastern politics, Iranian politics have largely stayed “in the public’s interest” since the mass protests reported last June during the country’s elections.

That said, this key issue of our time has been kept in the media’s eye due to the dogged work of grassroots protesters—both Iranian expats and their confreres still living in the tumultuous middle eastern country.

One such movement is London’s National Council for the Resistance of Iran.  The NCRI is an in-your-face activist group that stages protests multiple times per month in front of Downing Street.  I caught up with them last week to chat about their mandate and how they push for social change from a country—the UK–that has other items on its agenda and for a country—Iran—where internal dissent has provoked arrests, torture, and killings.

But as has been hotly discussed, the movement hasn’t died, despite the fact that the Iranian regime continues to silence dissenters in cruel and brutal ways.  Largely, the resilience of this movement because it isn’t political, it’s social, there’s no leader whose removal would cause the followers to lose their way.  As such, just like a video that goes viral on the internet, many have argued that there’s no way to stifle the powerful Iranian demand for change.

And it’s no wonder the floodgates have opened. Many Iranians have experienced the regime’s brutality themselves, and others certainly have friends or family who have suffered great trauma.

Zohrah Moalemi, a protester with the NCRI has been in the UK for 21 years and knows what solidarity means.  She described prison conditions that especially for women, are as close to hell as exists on earth.

“I was imprisoned for two years as a student,” she said.

“Iranian prisons are especially cruel for women, who are raped, tortured, and executed. I always felt I needed to support those who are still suffering under these conditions, because I know what it’s like.”

In Iran’s current bottom-up uprising, Moalemi argues that women and students—two groups that often receive the worst treatment for protesting within the country–have been key to propelling the resistence movement within Iran.

“There are 1000 women imprisoned in Camp Ashraf and they are the ones leading the uprisings we hear about within the camp,” Ms Moalemi said.

At NCRI’s frequent protests, Ms Moalemi is surrounded by fellow Iranians brandishing their solidarity like two fingers thrust in the air.

As they shout “Khomeini’s a murderer, no to the murderer!” in front of Gordon Brown’s posh address, calling the West to action against the regime, it’s hard not think of the thousands of other groups the world over doing the same.

With the dedication of such vast numbers of angry humans hungry for change, one thing is clear: Iranians aren’t going to go quietly until the world starts making noise to support their cause.