Iran protests persist amid deadly crackdown and internet blackout

The now-iconic gesture – which some users likened to the final scene of Malèna, starring Monica Bellucci – has been echoed in photos and videos shared on social media in recent days. Over the weekend, some Iranians abroad also staged symbolic recreations during demonstrations in several countries.

Burning images of Iran’s supreme leader – who routinely brands protesters “rioters” – has been a recurring feature of anti-government demonstrations since 2008 and remains a powerful symbol of resistance.

The woman posts on X under the handle Morticia Addams and, according to her posts, is 25 and lives in Canada. She has said she was arrested during the November 2019 protests in Iran. In one post, she wrote: “Every time I was on the street. This time I couldn’t be. Forgive me, Mother Iran.”

Iran has faced an internet blackout in recent days, but Iranian users abroad also reacted strongly. One user, posting as “Iran-Dokht,” wrote sarcastically: “I don’t smoke, but I really felt like lighting a cigarette, right now.”

International attention

The image drew wider international attention after J.K. Rowling, the author of the Harry Potter series, shared a poster showing the woman lighting a cigarette from a half-burned portrait of Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei.

Rowling wrote: “If you claim to support human rights yet can’t bring yourself to show solidarity with those fighting for their liberty in Iran, you’ve revealed yourself. You don’t give a damn about people being oppressed and brutalized so long as it’s being done by the enemies of your enemies.”

The Europe-based outlet Nexta TV commented: “This isn’t shock value. It’s a blunt political gesture – open contempt for a regime that has spent decades controlling women’s bodies, clothing, behavior, and lives.”

Other powerful images

The imagery has also evoked moments from the 2022 “Woman, Life, Freedom” protests, which erupted after the death of 22-year-old Mahsa Amini following her detention by Iran’s morality police. During that period, videos of women burning headscarves spread rapidly online, including scenes some viewers said recalled Nika Shakarami, a young protester killed in Tehran.

Another widely shared image from that time showed a young woman in Karaj tying back her short hair before joining protesters. Many women also cut locks of hair and posted the footage online. The gesture became so widely recognized that female lawmakers in several countries repeated it on parliamentary floors in solidarity with Iranian women.

More recently, another clip circulating widely shows an elderly woman with white hair and a bloodied mouth chanting slogans. In footage posted on social media before the internet shutdown, she says, referring to the Islamic Republic’s 47-year rule: “I am not afraid. I have been dead for 47 years.”

Rowling wrote: “If you claim to support human rights yet can’t bring yourself to show solidarity with those fighting for their liberty in Iran, you’ve revealed yourself. You don’t give a damn about people being oppressed and brutalised so long as it’s being done by the enemies of your enemies.”

The European media outlet Nexta TV commented: “This isn’t shock value. It’s a blunt political gesture — open contempt for a regime that has spent decades controlling women’s bodies, clothing, behavior, and lives.“

Other powerful images

The imagery recalls earlier moments from the 2022 “Woman, Life, Freedom” protests that erupted after the death of 22-year-old Mahsa Amini, who died after being detained by Iran’s morality police. During that period, videos of women burning their headscarves went viral, including scenes reminiscent of Nika Shakarami, a young protester killed in Tehran.

Another widely shared image from that time showed a young woman in Karaj tying back her short hair before joining protesters. Many women also cut locks of their hair and shared the footage online. The gesture became so iconic that female lawmakers in several countries repeated it in their parliaments in solidarity with Iranian women.

Among the more recent viral images is a video of an elderly woman with white hair and a bloodied mouth chanting slogans. In the footage that emerged on social media before the internet shutdown, she is heard saying, in reference to the 47-year rule of the Islamic Republic: “I am not afraid. I have been dead for 47 years.”

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.

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  '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.

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  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.