Iran International
Videos emerging from Iran despite a near-total internet shutdown reflect a rare mix of jubilation, fear and expectation as US and Israeli strikes leave the country’s future suddenly bound to the outcome of the war.
Shortly after the strikes began, Iran’s connection to the global internet was almost entirely severed, dropping to a reported minimum of around four percent—enough to meet what observers describe as government needs.
Nevertheless, some citizens used circumvention tools such as Psiphon and satellite connections via Starlink to share footage from targeted areas or contact relatives abroad.
In one viral clip shared on X, the sound of residents in an apartment complex clapping can be heard. A woman lets out a celebratory ululation, while a man shouts, “Damn Khamenei.”
Another video filmed in Tehran after news spread of the killing of senior official Ali Shamkhani, captures the sound of cheering and car horns. In footage from Shiraz, the steady thud of anti-aircraft fire is heard alongside chants of “Death to Khamenei.”
Some who do not see war as a solution expressed conflicted emotions.
“What a strange morning," one X user wrote. "War was not our choice or decision. Most of us feel a mix of worry, a sense of vindication, anger, hope, scattered thoughts, and many other contradictory emotions. Each person may highlight one feeling at a given moment.”
Users with access to social media reported heavy traffic across Tehran, long lines at gas stations, and crowded supermarkets and bakeries.
Arian, a Tehran resident who told Iran International he had chosen to stay, said some people had already left before the strikes began, adding that he witnessed some cars and motorcycles honking in apparent celebration.
One citizen, in a video sent to Iran International, said: “This war is not our war. It’s Trump’s war with the hateful Islamic regime. We pray that Trump wins this war, because if he wins, the people of Iran will be free.”
In yet another clip, residents are heard tracking missiles across the night sky, shouting in excitement as they pass overhead. Videos circulating online also show teenage students in girls’ and boys’ schools chanting and celebrating.
Officials 'safe and sound'
Supporters of the Islamic Republic, too, organized collective displays of loyalty, including public prayers at several universities, declaring resistance against US and Israeli attacks a matter of faith and pledging allegiance to Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei.
The government has not confirmed the death of any top-ranking officials so far.
Satellite imagery circulating online appears to show that Khamenei’s compound in central Tehran—near the presidential complex and other key government buildings—has been largely destroyed. Authorities have not publicly commented on the extent of damage or Khamenei’s condition.
Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi told NBC News hours after the attack that “almost all officials of the country are safe, secure and alive,” adding: “We may have lost a few commanders may have been killed, but that’s not a big problem.”
Fears of Unrest
Unlike during the 12-day war in June, the Supreme National Security Council issued a statement only hours after the fighting began, advising residents of Tehran and other major cities to leave for safer areas.
Government spokesperson Fatemeh Mohajerani said necessary arrangements had been made in tourist provinces to accommodate those departing the capital and other large cities.
A political activist in Tehran told Iran International that, given US President Donald Trump’s renewed promises to support regime change, the government likely feels a severe threat.
Encouraging residents to leave major cities, he argued, may be aimed at preventing collective opposition movements or attempts to seize government institutions.
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.