Overview
- Videos across X, Instagram, Reddit and Telegram show women igniting cigarettes from burning portraits of Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.
- Burning the supreme leader’s image is a serious offense in Iran, and women smoking in public has long been discouraged or restricted.
- Observers say the visually symbolic, small-scale actions are harder to suppress than large crowds that security forces can disperse.
- Exiled figure Reza Pahlavi urged new protests and claimed authorities cut communications, with reports of an internet and phone blackout on Thursday night.
- Economic pressure from high inflation and a weakening currency is fueling unrest, alongside other viral gestures such as bloody-lip displays and street gymnastics.