Thousands of people are still demonstrating in Iran, despite a violent crackdown. They took to the streets, chanting "death to the dictator" and openly calling for an end to the Islamic Republic. 

An independent human rights group said government forces have killed hundreds of protesters and arrested more than ten thousand. The government also blacked out internet service, impacting Iranians living here in Chicago.

People in the Iranian community said they're feeling a sense of helplessness, with the last time most of them were able to make contact with family back home being last Thursday. Their concerns are only growing as the country remains in a communication blackout.

Sepideh Sanie spends a lot of her free time advocating for Iranian human rights in Chicago. Currently, her mind and her heart are with her family in Iran.

"I feel like since the internet blackout, with no way of having communications, now there's another layer of not knowing, because as before, if I know someone is going outside, I can check on them, I can call them, I can send them a message. I can even see them like being active on social media, so that makes me feel they're okay," she said.

Sanie said with no internet or phone service, there's no way to tell if anyone she knows is okay.

"I don't know if they're getting detained, if they're getting killed. and just how bad it is right now," she said.

Her last contact was with a friend in Khoramabad, Lorestan — a region that's seen some of the most violent crackdowns.

"I can never go back home because I advocate for my people," she said. "He sent a voicemail saying, you know, this time is different. You guys are going to be able to come, you get your tickets, you're going to come back home, and we're going to be able to, like, see each other, and that was the last thing we heard from him. Our response to that message has been sitting in that inbox, unread."

Shiva Rahmani, who also lives here in Chicago, said she hasn't been able to reach her father since last week, not through a messenger app or even his landline.

"No responses, no nothing," she said. "I even checked again this morning, because I did see a few of my friends that do live in Iran, they had, like, internet connection for a very short amount of time, and they reached out to me. They said, send me your dad's number so I can reach out to them. and then again, it went black."

The unknown is what's driving these women to continue advocating for their families, who they feel are being silenced by this blackout.

"They said they want us to continue to basically be their voice. Even though there's a blackout happening in Iran. They want us to continue doing that to be heard. And they want the regime gone," Rahmani said.

Many people inside Iran use the communication app WhatsApp to communicate with family abroad. Sources inside Iran said the same thing Rahmani did, that some people have been able to connect to Starlink for just a few minutes to send quick messages before things went dark again.