Iran International
Iranian officials have begun publicly blaming one another and foreign foes for ongoing unrest across the country, exposing sharp divisions in Tehran on one of the greatest challenges yet to the Islamic Republic.
Members of parliament have accused both the government and the public of contributing to the economic collapse that triggered the unrest.
President Massoud Pezeshkian and members of his administration, in turn, have pointed the finger back at parliament, underscoring a familiar pattern of elite infighting during periods of crisis.
Speaking at a meeting with officials and academics on Tuesday, January 6, Pezeshkian acknowledged that responsibility for the current situation was shared.
In a characteristically self-critical tone, he said his administration and the Majles both bore blame for the failures that had led to the unrest.
Elephant in the room
Notably absent from official statements has been any reckoning with the role of Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei or the effects of decades of centralized rule.
In his only intervention on protest so far, Khamenei appeared to urge authorities to tighten the control.
“Protest is legitimate, but protest is different from rioting,” he said on Saturday. “We talk to protesters, but there is no use in talking to rioters. Rioters must be put in their place.”
Protesters have made Khamenei a central target, accusing him of bankrupting the country through military adventurism and the financing of regional proxy groups.
‘US mercenaries’
As demonstrations continued for an eleventh consecutive day on Wednesday, hardline lawmakers reiterated familiar rhetoric dismissing the protests as foreign-instigated.
Fatemeh Mohammadbeigi, a lawmaker from Qazvin, labeled protesters “rioters” and said they should be intimidated into ending what she called their “mutiny.”
“Enemies are importing weapons into Iran,” she asserted, calling on security forces to “confront the rioters with strict measures.”
Rights groups and activist networks say at least 36 protesters have been killed since the unrest began, with many more injured. A hospital in the uniquely restive province of Ilam was attacked to arrest wounded demonstrators.
MP Mohammadbeigi alleged in an interview with moderate outlet Rouydad24 that “Israeli and US mercenaries” were responsible for the hospital raid as well as for shutting down markets and damaging property.
Infighting unabated
Similar claims were echoed by Esmail Kowsari, a Tehran lawmaker, IRGC officer and member of parliament’s national security committee.
Speaking to the state-linked ILNA news agency, Kowsari accused “enemies” of attempting to sow discord in Iran, arguing that Israel and the United States, which he said had been “defeated in the war with Iran,” were now waging a “soft war” through social media.
Kowsari also criticized the government for “leaving the markets uncontrolled” and suggested parliament should summon the president to explain the situation.
Moderate figures have warned that such moves risk deepening the crisis.
Hassan Rassouli, a former governor of the protest hotbed Lorestan, warned that questioning Pezeshkian in parliament “would be tantamount to attacking the commander during a battle.”
In an interview with moderate outlet Khabar Online on Wednesday, he accused hardline lawmakers of staging “a show of authority” at a moment when Tehran—in his words—should focus on containing unrest, not escalating internal power struggles.
Tehran’s unveiling of a towering statue depicting the Roman Emperor Valerian kneeling before pre-Islamic Persian King Shapur I has renewed criticism of the Islamic Republic’s appeal to nationalist sentiment following the June war with Israel.
For over forty years, the theocracy purged ancient Persian history from schoolbooks, replacing it with post-Islamic narratives. But after the 12-day conflict with Israel, officials have turned to the distant pre-Islamic past to rally a divided society.
From murals of ancient kings and soldiers to patriotic songs added to Shi’ite mourning ceremonies performed before Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei, Tehran now embraces imagery once deemed heretical by its own revolutionary ethos.
'Kneel before Iran' campaign
Tehran’s Revolution (Enghelab) Square was the scene of an unusual spectacle on Friday as officials unveiled a massive bronze statue depicting Roman Emperor Valerian kneeling in submission before Sassanid King Shapur I, commemorating Iran’s victory at the Battle of Edessa (260 AD).
The event was held under the slogan “Kneel before Iran,” part of what authorities describe as a campaign to project “national unity and historical pride” following the June war with Israel.
Tehran Mayor Alireza Zakani, a staunch ultraconservative, said on X: “Enmity with Great Iran can only end in kneeling before this historic nation.”
Municipal official Davood Goodarzi said the installation would be accompanied by visual displays depicting “other victories of Iranians over foreign aggressors,” including the defeat of British forces by local commander Rais-Ali Delvari, Mirza Kuchak Khan’s resistance against Russian troops, and Surena’s triumph over Rome at the Battle of Carrhae in 53 BCE.
The goal, Goodarzi said, is “strengthening concepts such as national dignity, social unity, and Iranian identity.”
The statue, he said, would remain temporarily at Revolution Square before being moved to a city gateway “where it will stand as the first emblem of Iran before diplomats and foreign visitors.”
Unveiled women were allowed to attend the unveiling ceremony—an uncommon scene at events organized by Tehran’s ultra-hardline municipality.
The turn to the pre-Islamic past
The sharp reversal also recalls remarks once made by Khamenei. In a 2011 speech, he asserted that “all the great military victories of this nation came after Islam,” dismissing pre-Islamic accounts as “things that are not documented.”
In 1987, he had said that prophets triumphed over kings such as Cyrus and that “nothing remains of these monarchs in history but names remembered with derision.”
Nevertheless, pro-government social media accounts have now gone so far as to circulate posters equating Khamenei himself with Shapur, showing him standing with a staff as Benjamin Netanyahu and Donald Trump kneel before him. The caption reads: “You will kneel before Iran.”
'Hypocrisy'
Pro-government figures have hailed the move as a patriotic success. Conservative political reporter Hossein Saremi posted: “Today’s grand Iranian gathering showed that people and the state share one essence: Iran itself. Nothing can take our homeland away.”
Others, however, called the spectacle “hypocrisy.” Journalist Gholamhossein Pashaei wrote on X: “Every year you close Pasargadae to stop people from celebrating Cyrus Day, yet you unveil Shapur’s statue in Enghelab Square with drums and fireworks during Fatimiyya (mourning period)!”
Dissident commentator Hamid Asafi called the ceremony “a perfect snapshot of the Islamic Republic’s contradictions.”
On Telegram he wrote: “A week ago they closed Cyrus’s tomb out of fear of the crowds, and now they glorify Shapur in the same breath. The Islamic Republic fears living history but poses for selfies with its corpse.”
He added: “They know people no longer respond to rosaries and sermons. That’s why they’ve brought history back to the stage—in a controlled costume. If they can’t erase the past, they’ll try to own it.”
The irony deepened as UNESCO formally recognized Cyrus’s Charter as one of the earliest human-rights documents.
President Masoud Pezeshkian wrote on X: “Iran, the cradle of dialogue, justice, and coexistence, can still inspire peace today.”
Users swiftly replied, questioning how such pride could coexist with a government that blocks access to Cyrus’s tomb each year to those wishing to visit it on his birthday.
