Iran’s supreme leader running Iran from the shadows, Advocacy report says
A new report by advocacy group United Against Nuclear Iran (UANI) says Iran’s Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei’s shrinking public profile has not weakened his grip on power, but instead marks a shift to ruling Iran from secure underground locations through his powerful but opaque Bayt-e Rahbari (Office of the Supreme Leader).
The study says that this little-understood institution functions as the Islamic Republic’s true command center, tightly managing the country’s military, political, economic and cultural levers while the 86-year-old leader largely disappears from public view.
The recent elite reshuffles and rhetoric, including talk of shifts on the nuclear file, have fueled misleading perceptions of declining supreme leader authority, while in reality the Bayt has been “tightening its iron grip” on decision-making following the recent 12‑day conflict, the report said.
Former US Ambassador to the United Nations Nikki Haley on Thursday urged against any sanctions relief for Iran, saying funds provided to Tehran would fuel its proxy groups and ballistic missile program rather than benefit its people.
“We can’t allow any sanctions relief for Iran. Any money the regime receives won’t relieve their people. It will go directly to their terror proxies and ballistic missile program,” Haley posted on X.
Representative Carlos Gimenez (R-FL) said on Thursday he does not trust Iran and believes a nuclear deal is unlikely, warning that extraordinary measures may be needed to prevent Tehran from acquiring nuclear weapons.
“I don't trust that regime, because every time that we make a deal with them, they're always somehow breaking it,” Gimenez told Fox News. “They get some kind of monetary reward. It breathes new life into the regime, and they just keep doing exactly what they've been doing all along. They want to attain a nuclear weapon.”
Asked what action the United States should take in the meantime, Gimenez outlined a series of military steps.
“I would replicate that same thing that the Israelis did when they took out a bunch of their nuclear scientists in their own home, and decapitate the head of the snake — and that is the regime itself,” he said. “But I'm not the president of the United States.”
Famous Iranian footballer Rashid Mazaheri has had no contact with his wife for more than 48 hours after comparing Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei to Satan in a social media post condemning the Islamic Republic’s January massacre of protesters, she said.
Mazaheri on Wednesday posted an image on Instagram of Khamenei labeled “Satan,” with the caption: “Your command over this sacred land has ended.”
The post was later deleted, and her wife Maryam Abdollahi said the goalkeeper’s current whereabouts are unknown.
The Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC)-affiliated Fars News said on Wednesday that a summons had been issued for Mazaheri over an alleged 4-billion-toman - $80,000 - fraud, and that the footballer was "exploiting the country's situation and fabricating lies to avoid paying his debts."
Mazaheri's wife rejected the Fars report, calling them a “carefully engineered lie meant to cover up the truth.”
“Any reports suggesting his arrest over financial matters are fabricated lies meant to hide the truth," she posted on Instagram.
“Rashid knew about these traps and has stood courageously, remaining in his homeland. His bravery cannot be hidden behind these dirty scenarios," she said.
Mazaheri was a goalkeeper for Tehran giants Esteghlal and was even named in Iran's preliminary squad for the 2018 World Cup in Russia.
A series of Iranian social media accounts fell silent after their owners were shot during January protests, leaving behind final posts that now read like unfinished testimonies and have turned into digital memorials where protesters mourn, vent anger and hail the fallen.
Across platforms, the pattern repeats: a final slogan, a warning, a declaration — and then silence.
Profiles remain searchable, timelines intact, bios unchanged. Friends return to the comment sections to grieve. Strangers leave messages of defiance.
What began as personal accounts have, in death, become public memorials.
Sam Rezaee: a final slogan
Sam Rezaee was 21 years old when he posted, “Long Live the Shah (King).”
Born in Shiraz, he joined X in 2024 and quickly became active in pro-monarchy circles, mixing political commentary with humor and memes. Friends say he followed online trends closely and cared deeply about how he presented himself, both digitally and in person.
A screengrab of Sam Rezaee’s X page
On January 8, near Saadi Cinema in Shiraz, Sam was struck by pellets in the neck and chest. A source close to the family confirmed that a viral video circulating online shows the moment he was shot.
“He was still alive here,” the source said. “They took him to the hospital, where he later died.”
Iranian slain protester Sam Rezaee
“It is very important for us to let the world know this is how Sam was killed and what they did to him,” the source added.
Sam had graduated from Iran’s elite gifted-students school system and worked in his family’s jewelry shop. He planned to study medicine in Italy.
A childhood photo of killed protester Sam Rezaee, shared by one of his friends with Iran International.
Authorities delayed handing over his body for a week, the source said. Officials tried to pressure the family to declare that he was affiliated with the Basij militia. The family refused and were required to sign a pledge to remain silent.
He was buried under security supervision. Even the 40th-day memorial was sparsely attended.
His timeline remains visible, halted at that final message.
An image of Sam Rezaee’s grave sent to Iran International by one of his friends.
Raha Bohloulipour: a final declaration
Raha Bohloulipour was 23 when she posted her last message.
A first-year Italian literature student at the University of Tehran, she ran a Telegram channel with nearly 24,000 subscribers and had more than 4,500 followers on X.
A screengrab of Raha Bahloulipour’s X page
Her final Telegram post read: “I’ve connected for a moment and I just want to write: Woman, Life, Freedom – forever.” After that, she never returned.
Bohloulipour was killed by live ammunition during protests on January 9 and buried in her hometown of Firouzabad in Fars province, according to colleagues and local sources.
Iranian slain protester Raha Bahloulipour
In the days before her death, she wrote openly about exhaustion and fear.
“I’m disgusted – disgusted, disgusted – and so exhausted with the Islamic Republic. From the moment I stepped into the faculty today until I left, I was in tears... I’m unbearably tired and disgusted with the Islamic Republic.”
An image of Raha Bahloulipour’s grave
In another post she wrote: “…when I leave the dorm, deep down I’m not sure whether I’ll come back at night or not. Living under the shadow of the Islamic Republic.”
Students at the University of Tehran commemorated her during a protest gathering and chanted: “For every one person killed, a thousand stand behind them.”
Her channel remains frozen on that final declaration.
Vahid Mohammadlou: a bio left unchanged
Vahid Mohammadlou, 39, described himself on X as: “Former military man → soldier of Reza Shah II Pahlavi → soldier of the land of Iran || ‘Long live Iran, long live the King.’”
A screengrab of Vahid Mohammadlou’s X page
Posting under @IraniansWarrior, he had more than 3,700 followers.
On January 8 in Sadeghiyeh (Aryashahr), Tehran, he was shot in the eye and died from his injuries, according to family accounts and obituary posts. He left behind two children, aged 9 and 4.
Protester Vahid Mohammadlou, who was shot dead in the eye on January 8 in Tehran, seen here with his children.
In a widely circulated video, his four-year-old daughter hugs his photograph and asks those around her to leave. “Leave the room, I would like only my dad to be next to me,” she says in the heart-wrenching video.
An image of Vahid Mohammadlou's wife at his grave
His bio remains as he wrote it.
Mosayeb Nezami: a call to the streets
Mosayeb Nezami, 32, was a farmer from Borujerd in Lorestan province. He joined X in 2019 and had more than 1,500 followers.
His final post read: “Anger has to move into the streets – only tweeting lets us vent.”
A screengrab of Mosayeb Nezami’s X page
On January 8 in Kourosh Square, Borujerd, he was shot from behind with live ammunition. The bullets struck his shoulder and heart. He died from his injuries.
Nezami had lost his father at age 10 and became the sole breadwinner for his family, supporting two sisters and a younger brother, according to colleagues.
Mosayeb Nezami, a farmer from Borujerd in Lorestan province, who was killed during the January 8 protests.
His account still carries that final line.
Alireza Mousavi Noor: a warning in advance
Alireza Mousavi Noor, 29, known on X as Derakoolaye Ghamgin – Sad Dracula – had more than 10,000 followers.
A screengrab of Alireza Mousavi Noor’s X page
On January 7, he wrote: “If I don’t come online again, don’t forget me. Know that I didn’t die for nothing. Say my name at the celebration of freedom.”
Slain protester Alireza Mousavi Noor
He was shot and killed the next day during protests in Baharestan, Isfahan.
The message now reads as premonition.
An image of slain protester Alireza Mousavi Noor’s grave
Masoud Zatparvar: from influencer to protester
Masoud (Mehdi) Zatparvar was an international bodybuilding coach and two-time World Classic Bodybuilding Overall Champion. His Instagram account had 242,000 followers, and he ran a website providing training and nutrition programs.
A screengrab from Masoud Zatparvar’s Instagram page. He was killed in Rasht, northern Iran, on January 8.A screengrab of Masoud Zatparvar's website
In his final post in January 2026, he wrote: “We only want our rights. A voice that has been stifled in me for forty years must be shouted. You caused what we are going through today. You took our youth, hope, dreams, and even the bare minimum from us. Today I am here – so that tomorrow I don’t look in the mirror and say I had no backbone, no honor. I stood, whatever the cost, I will pay it. I, Masoud Zatparvar, am in the street today. I have neither fear nor worry! I want my rights.”
Slain protester and bodybuilding champion Masoud Zatparvar
He was killed on January 8, in Rasht after being struck by live ammunition, according to local accounts and social media posts.
His Instagram page has not been updated since.
Hamed Hamidian: A plea to Trump
Hamed Hamidian, 38, an X user with more than 7,300 followers who joined the platform in 2009, addressed US President Donald Trump in his final post before the January killings.
A screengrab of Hamed Hamidian’s X page
“Mr. president @realDonaldTrump, since you said you’re watching the situation in Iran, at least 20 people got killed! We can’t beat the devil empty handed, I’m begging you to cut to the chase and finish the Mullahs' regime.”
Hamed Hamidian, 38, was killed during January 8 protests in Tehran
He was later reported killed during the protests on January 8 in Tehran.
An image of Hamed Hamidian's grave
Social media becomes a battleground
Researchers say this transformation — from personal timeline to digital shrine — has become a defining feature of protest movements in Iran.
“In the waves of anti-regime protests sweeping Iran, social media has played a paradoxical yet indispensable role as both a lifeline and a battleground for information and identity,” said Sahar Tahvili, an artificial intelligence and information technology researcher.
“In this environment, control over social media is no longer peripheral to politics — it is the political struggle itself,” she told Iran International.
Even during internet disruptions, users have documented protests through satellite connections, VPNs and diaspora networks, while authorities deployed competing narratives and digital manipulation, she added.
Each account now stands as a frozen timestamp — unfinished testimonies suspended in time. The posts remain, the timestamps fixed, but the authors do not.
Mohammad Hamed Qazqan, an 18-year-old protester from the northeastern Iranian village of Qazqan in Khorasan Razavi province was killed after being detained by security forces.
His family said he was shot in the legs in Rajai Township in Mashhad before being arrested.
