Iranian women have launched a striking new form of protest, lighting cigarettes with burning images of Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei in a bold act of defiance that has spread rapidly online.
Videos and photographs of the protests have been shared thousands of times across social media platforms, showing women without headscarves smoking cigarettes ignited by portraits of the country’s most powerful figure. Burning images of the supreme leader is a serious criminal offence under Iranian law, while women smoking in public has long been restricted or discouraged.
By combining both acts, and openly defying mandatory hijab laws, protesters are challenging not only Iran’s political authority but also its rigid social controls. Observers say the symbolism of the act makes it particularly difficult for authorities to suppress.
“This kind of protest doesn’t rely on mass gatherings that can be dispersed,” one analyst noted. “It spreads digitally and privately, making enforcement far more complex.”
The trend has emerged amid deepening economic hardship and renewed nationwide unrest. Iran has been gripped by protests over inflation, unemployment and the collapse of the rial, with demonstrations breaking out in cities across the country.
While the current unrest has not yet reached the scale of the mass protests seen three years ago, human rights groups say dozens of people have been killed during clashes with security forces in recent weeks.
Authorities imposed a nationwide internet and phone blackout on Thursday night as protests intensified, largely cutting Iran off from the outside world. The blackout followed days of growing demonstrations and reports of escalating violence.
Ayatollah Khamenei has accused protesters of acting on behalf of foreign powers, particularly the United States and President Donald Trump. He said demonstrators were attacking public property and warned that Iran would not tolerate what he described as “mercenaries for foreigners.”