As massive protests continue to take over the streets of Iran amid US President Donald Trump’s threats, visuals of women lighting cigarettes using burnt photographs of Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei have gone viral on social media. The protests have turned violent as the death toll has increased, while authorities have shut down the internet and cut telephone lines off from the world.
The protests took off in late December and have turned into one of the biggest challenges for the clerical system that has been in place since the 1979 Islamic revolution in the country. Follow live updates related to Iran protests here.
A doctor in Tehran told TIME Magazine that just six hospitals in the country have recorded at least 217 protester deaths, most caused by live ammunition.
Why Iranian women are lighting cigarettes from burnt Khamenei photos
Videos that have gone viral on social media, that HT.com could not independently verify, purportedly show Iranian women lighting cigarettes by burning the supreme leader’s photos.
More unverified visuals that have surfaced from Tehran purportedly show women burning their headscarves in large bonfires.
But what are the women in Iran trying to convey?
Two separate rules connect the answer to this question. One, burning photos of the supreme leader is treated as a grave crime under Iranian law. Second, women smoking has for years been limited or discouraged in many parts of the country.
By carrying out these two acts together and openly defying compulsory hijab rules, protesters are pushing back against state power as well as rigid social restrictions.
Such a type of protest draws from the wave of dissent that began after Mahsa Amini died in police custody in 2022. She had been arrested for allegedly violating the dress rules for women.
Iran protests: Internet shut, people bang pots and chant slogans
At first, the protests centred on concerns such as sharp rises in food prices and the country’s extremely high yearly inflation. However, protestors have now started raising anti-government statements as well.
The protests took place as internet watchdog NetBlocks reported that officials had enforced a “nationwide internet shutdown”, saying the move violated the rights of Iranians and was “masking regime violence”.
Amnesty International said the “blanket internet shutdown” was meant to “hide the true extent of the grave human rights violations and crimes under international law they are carrying out to crush” the protests.
In the Sa’adat Abad area of northern Tehran, residents were seen banging pots and shouting slogans mocking Khamenei, while passing cars sounded their horns in support, according to visuals verified by news agency AFP.
In his first remarks on the growing unrest, Khamenei on Friday described the protestors as “vandals” and “saboteurs”.
Trump said on Friday that Iran’s leadership appeared to be “in big trouble” and repeated his warning that he could order military action. “It looks to me that the people are taking over certain cities that nobody thought were really possible just a few weeks ago,” he said.
Khamenei meanwhile said that the “arrogant” US leader would be “overthrown”, comparing him to the imperial dynasty that governed Iran before the 1979 revolution.
Leaders from France, the United Kingdom and Germany also issued a joint statement on Friday condemning what they called the “killing of protestors” in Iran and urged the authorities to “exercise restraint”.
With inputs from agencies
