Lighting cigarette with burning Khamenei portrait becomes protest symbol

The widely circulated video appears to show an elderly cleric who identifies himself as Ali Kashani. Responding to a question from a woman filming him on a busy street that appears to be in Tehran, he says he opposes what he calls a “criminal and murderer” government as shoppers and passersby move through the scene.

In the footage, he denounces Ruhollah Khomeini, founder of the Islamic Republic, and what he describes as “his sedition,” saying it has harmed the people, the country and religion, and calls on people to rise up against it. A woman off camera is heard chanting “Death to Khamenei” and insulting Khomeini, while the cleric signals approval.

A notable feature of the current wave of protests has been the visible turnout in Mashhad, Iran’s second-largest city, and Qom, a center of Shi’ite seminaries. Both cities have long been seen as bastions of hardline clerics who wield influence over local governance, including the appointment and removal of officials.

During recent demonstrations, protesters in several cities chanted slogans such as “Clerics must go and get lost” and “Until clerics are in shrouds, the homeland will not be free.”

In several cities, protesters have used anti-clerical slogans, and some have targeted religious sites, with reports that a seminary in Mashhad and a mosque at Kaj Square in Tehran were set on fire.

During the earlier “Woman, Life, Freedom” protests, videos of people knocking off clerics’ turbans also spread widely, becoming a symbol of opposition to the religious establishment.

Secularization of Iranian society

The Iranian government has long sought to present public religious rituals – such as Ashura commemorations, which many Iranians continue to observe annually – as evidence of popular support for the Islamic Republic. However, many analysts argue that Iranian society has moved closer to secularism in recent years than at any time since the 1979 revolution.

Even among those who maintain religious beliefs, hostility toward religious governance has grown. For most Iranians, religion is increasingly seen as a personal matter rather than a political system.

In February 2024, the results of a confidential research report commissioned by state institutions were leaked. The study was based on face-to-face interviews with more than 15,000 randomly selected individuals aged over 15 across Iran. According to the findings, over 70% of respondents supported the separation of religion and politics, while only slightly more than 20% opposed it.

The same survey found that 85% of respondents believed religious observance among the population had declined compared with five years earlier, and more than 80% expected society to become even less religious over the following five years.

Online reactions

Within a short time of being posted, the video was viewed hundreds of thousands of times and drew strong reactions before internet access was fully shut down.

Many users accused the cleric of opportunism, arguing he had shifted his position because he believed the Islamic Republic’s collapse was imminent.

One user wrote: “Why the rush now? He could have waited another 46 years to testify to these Islamic crimes and plunder.” Another wrote: “A good cleric is a dead cleric… die and make a nation happy.”

Another commenter wrote: “Don’t be fooled by clerics. Anyone who still gets excited by these words after 47 years of humiliation under clerical rule is nothing but a traitorous fool.

A good cleric is a dead cleric.” Another wrote: “If there were any honorable clerics, they would have abandoned this robe and turban – symbols of oppression – long ago.”

A few users sought to distinguish between ideology and appearance. One wrote: “When I say ‘death to clerics,’ I mean death to that outdated political and ideological system – not the person’s clothing.” Some users, however, expressed cautious agreement with the cleric’s remarks. One wrote: “I don’t care about his clothes or his profession, but he’s telling the truth. No one has harmed religion the way they have.”

A pro-government user reacted angrily, writing: “This cleric is an infidel who thinks religion is nothing but myths and stories. Imam Khomeini and Imam Khamenei are no less than prophets and divinely appointed imams, like Imam Ali and Imam Hussein.”

Footage sent to Iran International from Kahrizak, south of Tehran, shows several dead bodies in body bags.

According to eyewitness accounts accompanying the videos, dozens of bodies are visible at the site, with additional bodies reportedly located in another nearby industrial shed.

A series of videos obtained by @Vahid from Tehran’s Kahrizak forensic center show rows of bodies reportedly transported by pickup trucks after the January 8 crackdown on Iran protests.

In one clip, an on-screen label refers to “photo number … out of 250,” suggesting the scale of fatalities.

Two eyewitnesses who visited Kahrizak in search of their loved ones told Iran International that they saw more than 400 bodies there.

The most conservative estimates indicate that at least 2,000 people have been killed across Iran over the past 48 hours.

A doctor in the northern city of Rasht told Iran International that one hospital alone received at least 70 bodies.

On Friday alone, 44 bodies were transferred to Madani Hospital in Karaj and 36 to Ghaem Hospital in Karaj.

Medical sources in other cities also reported a high number of fatalities to Iran International.

Videos earlier sent to Iran International from Fardis, Karaj, and Alghadir Hospital in eastern Tehran showed similar scenes of dead bodies falling on the ground, pointing to an unfolding mass killing that is not confined to a limited number of cities.

The internet shutdown that started on January 8 have made it impossible to obtain a full picture of events on the ground. However, the volume and consistency of incoming accounts suggest that lethal force is being widely used to disperse protesters.

Sources describe particularly intense violence in areas including Fardis in Karaj, and parts of Tehran, while stressing that similar reports are emerging from many other locations across the country including the western provinces of Ilam and Kermanshah.

Despite the near-total internet blackout, videos and messages continue to reach Iran International through limited channels, including Starlink users. These users are largely based in major cities and more affluent areas, leaving large parts of the country with little visibility. Even so, journalists say they are receiving credible information indicating that mass protests are continuing nationwide.

Independent verification remains extremely difficult under current conditions.

Rather than acknowledge public anger or suggest compromise, Iran’s leadership has moved to project defiance—tightening control, mobilizing loyalists and insisting that the state remains firmly in charge.

That posture was most clearly on display on state television on Friday, with thinly veiled threats against protesters, including warnings to parents to keep their children off the streets “if they care about their safety.”

Channel 3, one of the country’s most-watched stations, framed the unrest as a coordinated assault on the state, while commentators denounced protesters for demanding basic civil rights even as images showed security forces firing tear gas and live ammunition into crowds.

Tehran’s mayor, Alireza Zakani, said protesters in the capital had set fire to dozens of buses and public buildings, branding them “terrorists” while omitting that many of those buses are routinely used to transport detainees.

Parallel universes

Leading this hard line—as always—was Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei, who delivered a defiant, threat-laden speech after a night of furious protests. He accused demonstrators of acting on behalf of foreign enemies and vowed to confront what he called “sabotage” with force.

Throughout the day, television screens depicted two Irans unfolding in parallel.

On one channel, young men with patchy beards sang aging anthems glorifying violence and sacrifice in the name of religious devotion. On another, images showed frustrated protesters attacking a supermarket—only to leave without taking anything. The two sides appeared to inhabit different moral and political universes.

The attacks on regime icons, including toppled effigies of former IRGC Qods Force commander Qasem Soleimani, point to something deeper than rage: the breaking of a spell.

For decades, Khamenei cultivated the image of an untouchable ruler—a giant towering over a society long conditioned to fear the machinery of repression. But power often begins to erode symbolically before it does materially.

An unmistakable shift

The Islamic Republic’s response to loud cries of rejection has been to insist, ever more loudly, that nothing essential has changed. Yet the need for such insistence is itself revealing. Giants do not announce their strength; they assume it.

When power must be constantly performed, restated and enforced on screen, it is often because the myth that sustained it is beginning to crack.

Iran’s leadership may yet suppress the unrest. It still commands formidable coercive tools. But the scenes now unfolding—even through the narrow lens of state television—suggest that something has shifted.

The state is shouting certainty into a country that no longer appears convinced. And once that moment arrives, the fall of a giant is no longer unthinkable—even if it is not yet complete.

Videos and eyewitness accounts reviewed by Iran International showed crowds gathering after dark in Tehran, Isfahan, Mashhad, Tabriz and other cities despite gunfire, blocked roads and widespread disruptions to communications. The demonstrations followed massive rallies the previous night that was described as among the largest since the unrest began.

Eyewitnesses in Tehran described demonstrators regrouping after nightfall in multiple neighborhoods, blocking major roads, setting fire to police vehicles, and chanting anti-government slogans as security forces attempted to disperse crowds. Chants of “Death to the dictator” and “Neither Gaza nor Lebanon, my life for Iran” echoed through the capital, while car horns blared continuously in what witnesses described as coordinated acts of defiance.

• 

  'People die in the dark': experts decry Iran's 'worst internet shutdown'

In Isfahan, video verified by Iran International showed a large crowd chanting “Khamenei is a murderer, his rule is illegitimate,” alongside monarchist slogans including “Long live the King.”

In Mashhad, protesters filled major streets chanting “This is the last battle, Pahlavi will return,” according to eyewitnesses, as demonstrations continued despite heavy security deployments.

Footage from Tabriz showed protesters marching through city streets as the sound of gunfire rang out nearby, while other videos captured demonstrators disabling surveillance cameras and erecting makeshift barricades.

Eyewitness accounts from southern and central cities described similar scenes, with crowds converging on symbolic locations, burning banners and posters associated with the Islamic Republic, and remaining in the streets for hours despite internet outages and disruptions to phone service and electronic payments.

Several witnesses told Iran International that security forces appeared overstretched in some areas, relying on intimidation tactics, warning shots and use of force. In other locations, particularly in southeastern Iran, rights groups reported that security forces fired directly on protesters in Zahedan after Friday prayers, wounding several people.

Authorities threaten executions, tighten pressure

Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei warned US President Donald Trump that he would be brought down.

• 

  Khamenei says Trump will fall, targets protesters in speech

“Trump should know that world tyrants such as Pharaoh, Nimrod, Reza Shah and Mohammad Reza were brought down at the peak of their arrogance. He too will be brought down,” Khamenei said in remarks aired on state television.

The Islamic Republic, he said, would not retreat in the face of unrest. “Everyone should know that the Islamic Republic came to power with the blood of hundreds of thousands of honorable people, and it will not back down in the face of saboteurs,” he added.

Tehran’s public prosecutor, Ali Salehi, said those accused of arson, destruction of public property or armed clashes with security forces would face charges of moharebeh, an offense that carries the death penalty under Iranian law.

Separately, Ali Larijani, Iran’s security chief, blamed what he described as “armed protesters” for fatalities during the unrest and said security forces had begun arresting what he called ringleaders. Iran’s Revolutionary Guards intelligence organization also issued a warning saying the continuation of protests was “unacceptable.”

The Supreme National Security Council accused foreign powers of steering the unrest and said security forces and the judiciary would show no leniency toward what it called saboteurs. Education officials announced that schools in several provinces would move to online classes, citing security concerns and disruptions caused by the blackout.

Exiled prince urges sustained action and strikes

Exiled Prince Reza Pahlavi urged protesters to return to the streets over the weekend, push toward central city areas and prepare for prolonged presence. He also called on workers in transportation, oil, gas and the broader energy sector to begin nationwide strikes aimed at cutting off state revenues.

Pahlavi said the demonstrations had exposed vulnerabilities within the security apparatus and appealed to members of the armed forces who support the opposition’s defection platform to further disrupt repression. He also said he was preparing to return to Iran and stand alongside protesters at what he described as a decisive moment.

International pressure builds

UN human rights chief Volker Türk said he was “deeply disturbed” by reports of violence and urged independent investigations and restoration of communications. The European Union condemned any excessive use of force and called for restraint, while France, Britain and Germany issued a joint statement urging Iranian authorities to protect peaceful assembly.

US President Donald Trump warned Iran against killing protesters and said Washington was watching closely, while the State Department cautioned Tehran not to test US resolve.

Several airlines, including Flydubai and Turkish Airlines, cancelled flights to Iran as unrest intensified, underscoring the widening international impact of a crisis entering its second week.

Demonstrations have spread across major cities and provinces despite a nationwide internet and phone blackout, with rights groups reporting at least 42 people killed and more than 2,000 arrested since unrest began.

Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei on Friday accused foreign powers of fueling the protests and warned demonstrators of severe punishment, as security forces fired live ammunition in several regions.

Tom Tugendhat, a British MP and former UK security minister, told Eye for Iran the moment reflects a system confronting its own limits.

“I think this is the end game for the regime,” Tugendhat said.

“What we’re watching is not whether or not the regime survives, but how many people does it try to kill?” he added.

His remarks came as Iranian prosecutors threatened protesters with charges carrying the death penalty, and the Revolutionary Guards’ intelligence arm warned that the continuation of protests was “unacceptable.”

Western officials reassess as fear appears to erode

Early this week, US intelligence assessed that the protests lacked the momentum to threaten regime stability, US officials told Axios, but that assessment is now being reconsidered in light of recent developments.

“This is truly an extraordinary moment,” said Norman Roule, a former senior CIA official, who served as the national intelligence manager for Iran at the Office of the Director of National Intelligence from 2008 to 2017.

“We are watching a regime that is clearly in its dying days,” Roule said.

Roule said the leadership’s response shows narrowing options.

“It’s a government that can sustain itself, but it’s incapable of decisions that can stop this,” he said.

US President Donald Trump has warned Iran’s authorities against killing demonstrators, praising Iranians as “brave people” and signaling consequences if repression escalates. European officials and the UN human rights chief have also condemned the crackdown and the communications blackout.

Policy analysts say the current unrest is not an isolated episode but part of a longer erosion of regime authority.

“The Iranian people have the singular ability to expose the regime for its illegitimacy,” said Jason Brodsky, policy director at United Against Nuclear Iran.

“Since 2017 onwards, the Iranian people have come to the conclusion that the Islamic Republic can’t be reformed and therefore has to be overthrown,” Brodsky said.

Journalist and author of Nuclear Iran David Patrikarakos said the protests differ fundamentally from earlier waves that focused on specific demands.

“These aren’t issue-based protests anymore. These are existential,” Patrikarakos said.

He said the leadership now faces a dangerous calculation. “If the Ayatollahs are tempted to think he’s bluffing, they should take a look at the ruins of their nuclear facilities,” he said, referring to recent US and Israeli strikes.

Protesters defy repression as blackout deepens

Verified videos circulating on social media show protesters confronting security forces in Tehran, Mashhad, Zahedan and other cities, even as authorities cut communications and deploy live fire.

One widely shared video shows a wounded protester declaring: “I’m not scared. For 47 years, I’ve been dead.”

The demonstrations have drawn participation across Iran’s political, ethnic and religious spectrum. Exiled Prince Reza Pahlavi praised the nationwide turnout and urged coordinated nightly protests, while Sunni cleric Molavi Abdolhamid warned of deepening poverty and backed the demonstrations.

International pressure has continued to build. The UN human rights chief said he was “deeply disturbed” by reports of killings and internet shutdowns, while EU officials accused Tehran of using blackouts to conceal violence.

Despite uncertainty over how events will unfold, guests on Eye for Iran converged on a central conclusion: the Islamic Republic is confronting a crisis in which repression remains its primary instrument, even as its effectiveness appears increasingly uncertain.

You can watch Episode 85 of Eye for Iran on YouTube or Listen on any podcast platform of your choosing.