As thousands of Iranians take to the streets daily demanding the downfall of , residents of Georgia—a small European nation on Russia’s southern border—have been demonstrating with varying degrees of intensity for more than a year, ever since the disputed 2024 parliamentary elections.
Ordinary Georgians who continue to endure freezing weather and claims of official violence are watching their fellow activists in Iran fight for democracy—and recognizing their own battle against a corrupt, widely disliked government.
“When you walk through the demonstrations every day in Tbilisi, all people talk about is Iran. The heated debate over it shows how much it matters and how optimism is out on the streets due to developments despite controversies,” Tinatin Khidasheli, Georgia’s former defense minister, told Digital.
“Developments in Iran resonate in a very human way: if people can challenge a far more despotic and violent regime, it reinforces the belief that resistance in Georgia is not futile,” Khidasheli added.
Large-scale protests erupted not long after the pro-Russia Georgian Dream party declared victory in the October 2024 elections and paused Georgia’s bid to join the .
Georgians have long wanted to draw closer to the West and become part of the European Union; opinion polls indicate massive support for EU membership. Shortly after assuming office, Georgian Prime Minister Irakli Kobakhidze stopped Tbilisi’s EU accession process, which angered many.
Tbilisi’s main Rustaveli Avenue has been packed with protesters who chant slogans and block traffic, furious that the ruling party is steering Georgia away from Europe and toward a Russia-aligned foreign policy.
Erekle Koplatadze, a 33-year-old Tbilisi resident, has been joining protests nearly every day since November 2024. Detained for six days in November 2025 on accusations of blocking a road during a protest, Koplatadze told Digital that Georgians have felt solidarity with the ever since people there rose up in December to oppose economic mismanagement and regime corruption.
“You will see many Lion and Sun flags (Iran’s national flag until the 1979 Islamic Revolution) in front of Georgia’s Parliament. And there have been protests in front of the Iranian Embassy in Tbilisi,” Koplatadze said.
Koplatadze noted that the and the regime’s harsh violence against innocent people have shocked many Georgian protesters, leading to a shared sense of empathy.
“I don’t remember such a big protest in Tbilisi in support of a foreign nation except for Ukraine,” he said.
Ana Riaboshenko—co-founder of the “Initiative Culture For Democracy” and a regular protest participant—told Digital that events in Iran have a direct impact on Georgia and other regional countries.
“Its transformation from a terrorist state to a democratic government will significantly change the situation and indeed contribute substantially to the global power balance and economy. A particularly positive outcome is expected with the collapse of the Russian-Iranian partnership.”
Riaboshenko highlighted that representatives of the Russian-backed Georgian Dream party have presented themselves as allies of Tehran, and bilateral ties and cooperation have grown since the fraudulent 2024 elections.
Civic IDEA, a Georgian non-governmental organization, released a July 2025 report explaining how Iranian businessmen and firms use Georgia as a strategic transit hub to and send funds back to Iran.
Per the Civic IDEA report, almost 13,000 Iranian companies are registered in Georgia.
Marika Mikiashvili, Foreign Secretary of the Droa party (which is part of Georgia’s largest democratic alliance), told Digital that while Georgians are amazed and deeply inspired by the courage of Iranians, their fight serves as both a powerful inspiration and a warning.
“Many protesters see Iran as a cautionary tale of what happens when a consolidating dictatorship isn’t defeated soon enough,” Mikiashvili warned.
The Georgian Dream government has not issued any statements supporting the pro-democracy protests, nor has it condemned the security forces’ human rights abuses against innocent people.
As the Georgian Dream government solidified its grip on power, it put in place to suppress dissent and used excessive force and other harsh methods to quash the protests.
Human Rights Watch has documented several laws that undermine Georgians’ right to peaceful assembly, such as heavy fines for protest-related offenses and abusive police practices, leading to the arbitrary detention of thousands.
According to Transparency International Georgia—an NGO focused on fighting corruption in the country—since Georgian Dream took office, 600 people have been arbitrarily detained, 300 protesters have been tortured or subjected to inhumane treatment, 1,000 citizens have been fined for their political views, and 400 journalists have been arrested, beaten, or harassed.