Iran International
In a normal year, Iranian newspapers would now be filled with stories celebrating Nowruz, the Persian New Year beginning March 20. But with war raging across Iran, front pages are instead dominated by headlines about security and survival.
After two weeks of upheaval — including the death of a supreme leader, the appointment of a successor and a war that has touched much of the country — Tehran’s newspapers are increasingly focused on the daily struggle of Iranians trying to make ends meet under fire.
Across the press, economic anxiety is now front and center.
The economic daily Donya-ye Eghtesad warned of a “red alert for the economic situation,” while Jomhouri Eslami struck a more pragmatic tone with the headline: “The need to be honest with the people in an emergency situation,” urging officials to “separate people’s livelihoods from politics.”
Coverage of the Strait of Hormuz also featured prominently on Monday’s front pages. The hardline Kayhan, whose editor is appointed by the Office of the Supreme Leader, vowed that “Iran’s response will make the enemies regret their actions in this war of wills.”
Ettela’at, another newspaper linked to that office, called on the government to “prevent looming famine and scarcity of goods,” taking a markedly different line from Kayhan’s “jihad economy” — a concept long promoted by the late leader Ali Khamenei.
It even suggested rationing essential goods during the Nowruz holidays, which typically last up to two weeks.
Economists quoted in several papers attributed part of the market turmoil to conflicting political signals and the Central Bank’s efforts to stabilize prices in the final days of the year.
Two key articles published Sunday, in Ettela’at and Jomhouri Eslami, captured the broader mood.
Ettela’at argued for “the priority of bread and ethics over political disputes,” criticizing political factions for turning people’s livelihoods into a battleground even during wartime. It urged officials and media to end factional infighting and focus on stabilizing prices to prevent further erosion of social trust.
Jomhouri Eslami, for its part, advised officials to remove advisers who mislead them and distract from the public’s real problems.
Three broad camps emerged in the press over the weekend.
Hardline outlets like Kayhan blamed the crisis on the war and called for resistance. Reformist papers including Etemad and Sharq described a deadlock and urged major change, including national reconciliation.
More centrist titles such as Ettela’at and Jomhouri Eslami framed the moment as a test of governance, calling for transparency, responsiveness and effective market control.
Despite their differences, nearly all newspapers agree on one point: the coming Iranian year, beginning March 20, is likely to be decisive for the country’s economy, its leadership and its social stability.
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.