Iranian women have launched a striking and highly symbolic new form of protest, lighting cigarettes with burning images of Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei in a bold act of defiance that has rapidly spread across social media platforms. Videos and photographs documenting the protests have been shared widely online, drawing international attention and underscoring growing dissent within the Islamic Republic.
The footage shows women, many of them without headscarves, calmly setting fire to printed portraits of the country’s most powerful political and religious figure and using the flames to light cigarettes. In Iran, both acts carry heavy symbolism and legal risk. Burning or defacing images of the Supreme Leader is a serious criminal offence under Iranian law, while women smoking in public has long been restricted, discouraged, or stigmatized under strict social and moral codes.
By combining both actions into a single gesture, the protesters are challenging Iran’s political authority and its rigid system of social control at the same time. Analysts say the protest’s power lies not in numbers on the streets but in its symbolism and ease of replication, making it difficult for authorities to suppress.
“This is a form of resistance that does not depend on mass demonstrations that can be broken up by security forces,” one regional analyst observed. “It happens in private spaces, spreads digitally, and carries a strong visual message that resonates far beyond Iran’s borders.”
The protest trend comes amid deepening economic hardship and renewed unrest across the country. Iran has been grappling with soaring inflation, high unemployment, and the continued collapse of the national currency, which has sharply reduced purchasing power for millions of citizens. Rising prices of food, fuel, and basic goods have triggered demonstrations in several cities, with protesters voicing anger over economic mismanagement and corruption.
Although the current wave of unrest has not yet reached the scale of the nationwide protests that shook Iran several years ago, human rights organizations report that clashes between demonstrators and security forces in recent weeks have resulted in multiple deaths and numerous arrests. Activists say security personnel have used force to disperse crowds, particularly in restive regions and major urban centres.
As demonstrations intensified, authorities imposed a nationwide internet and mobile network blackout, significantly restricting communication inside the country and limiting the flow of information to the outside world. Such shutdowns have become a familiar tactic during periods of unrest, aimed at preventing coordination among protesters and reducing the spread of images and videos that could fuel further dissent.
Despite the blackout, videos of the cigarette-lighting protest continued to circulate, suggesting that some content had been recorded earlier or shared through limited channels before restrictions were fully enforced. The continued spread of the images highlights the challenge Iranian authorities face in controlling digital resistance in an era of decentralized communication.
Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei has strongly condemned the protests, accusing demonstrators of acting on behalf of foreign powers. In public remarks, he claimed that unrest in the country was being instigated by external enemies, particularly the United States, and described protesters as “mercenaries” seeking to damage Iran’s stability by attacking public property and undermining national unity. He warned that the state would not tolerate what it views as foreign-backed subversion.
State media has echoed this narrative, portraying the protests as isolated incidents driven by outside influence rather than expressions of widespread domestic discontent. Officials have repeatedly emphasized the need to maintain order and have warned of severe legal consequences for acts considered disrespectful to the leadership or threatening to national security.
However, many observers argue that the cigarette protest reflects deeper frustrations, particularly among women, who have been at the forefront of recent challenges to Iran’s social restrictions. Since earlier protest movements sparked by the enforcement of mandatory hijab laws, women have increasingly used symbolic acts—such as removing headscarves, cutting their hair, or now burning images of authority figures—to express resistance.
The latest gesture, analysts say, represents an evolution in protest tactics. Instead of mass rallies, which carry high risks of arrest or violence, protesters are adopting small, personal actions that can be easily replicated and shared. Each image or video serves as both a protest and a message, sustaining momentum even when physical gatherings are curtailed.
For many Iranians, the images resonate as an expression of anger, courage, and frustration in a society where open dissent remains dangerous. While it remains unclear how long this specific trend will last or whether it will translate into broader mobilization, it underscores a continuing challenge for Iran’s leadership: dissent is adapting, becoming more symbolic, more personal, and harder to silence.
As economic pressure mounts and social restrictions remain firmly in place, acts like these suggest that resistance in Iran is not fading but transforming—finding new forms that speak powerfully in a tightly controlled environment.
