Iran's metro police arrested two men dressed in army air defense uniforms on Wednesday after they held up the pre-1979 Iranian flag at a Tehran station, according to Iranian media reports.
Jamaran news website said the incident occurred in the capital's subway system, but provided no names, charges, or further details on the arrests.
A video circulating on social media showed the pair unfurling the green-white-red banner emblazoned with the Lion and Sun emblem— a potent symbol of the ousted Pahlavi monarchy and frequent emblem in anti-government protests—on a crowded platform.
Bystanders film as the men, in camouflage fatigues, pose defiantly amid commuters.
The Jamaran report said they were wearing imitation military uniforms. Iran International cannot independently verify whether they were members of the armed forces.
Jamaran said metro security forces swiftly intervened, detaining the duo for "disrupting public order."
The pre-revolution flag, banned under the Islamic Republic, has surged in visibility during nationwide unrest, from the 2022 Mahsa Amini protests to recent economic demonstrations, representing calls for secular governance and fundamental change.
'Call to action'
Another video surfaced on social media on Wednesday showing a man introducing himself as Colonel Ebrahim Aghaei Kamazani, delivering a speech to the people of Iran and calling on them to act.
“The fact is that we, the people of Iran, have handed our country over to the enemy for 47 years. People of Iran, come to Iran's aid. The criminal regime has done nothing but create poverty, vice, and Iran's destruction,” the man is heard saying.
“We too are playing a role in the country's destruction through our indifference. Rise up on November 25. People, hear your son's voice. Long live the Shah; long live Iran,” he said.
Tweet unavailable