US EditionIranian Women Light Cigarettes on Burning Portrait of the Ayatollah
The act inspired a viral trend of defiance worldwide amid Iran's protests, with over 1.3 million views of the original video, highlighting opposition to the regime's strict laws.
- On Jan. 7, a video shows a woman igniting a photograph of Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, Iran's supreme leader, then lighting a cigarette from the flame a day before Iran's internet blackout.
- Fuelled by a struggling economy, demonstrations reflect Iranian protesters' anger at the regime's strictures and competence, while activists reported Iranian authorities killed at least 2,615 people Thursday.
- Across multiple countries, opponents copied the act from Israel to Germany and Switzerland, appearing at rallies in Berlin and Zuerich , while social platforms X, Instagram and Reddit amplified the 34-second footage.
- Iranian state media announced waves of arrests targeting `terrorists` and searches for Starlink satellite internet dishes, blaming unrest on plots by the United States and Israel.
- In interviews, the woman said she fled abuse in Iran, passed through Turkey, and now holds refugee status in Canada while fearing for family members in Iran.
94 Articles
94 Articles
Iran’s uprising meets a brutal crackdown
It’s been a week since Iran imposed a complete internet blackout, with most of its 90 million people cut off from the world. And on Friday, the crown prince in exile urged U.S. military intervention. Geoff Bennett discussed the latest with Abbas Milani, director of Iranian Studies at Stanford University, and Ray Takeyh, senior fellow for Middle East studies at the Council on Foreign Relations.
As U.S. pledge for help goes unfulfilled, Iran’s uprising meets brutal crackdown
It’s been a week since Iran imposed a complete internet blackout, with most of its 90 million people cut off from the world. And on Friday, the crown prince in exile urged U.S. military intervention. Geoff Bennett discussed the latest with Abbas Milani, director of Iranian Studies at Stanford University, and Ray Takeyh, senior fellow for Middle East studies at the Council on Foreign Relations.
A young woman, a burning photo of Ayatollah Ali Khamenei and a cigarette. A video from Canada has become a symbol of the protests in Iran. “I managed to draw attention to what is happening in Iran right now,” the woman behind the video tells the news site The Objective.
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