Iran International
Hardline media in Tehran have launched an unusual defence of President Massoud Pezeshkian, accusing the moderates who backed his rise of undermining him and even pushing for his resignation.
In a striking reversal of Iran’s traditional political alignments, the Revolutionary Guards-linked Javan and the Supreme Leader–affiliated Kayhan criticized Pezeshkian’s performance but directed their harshest attacks at centrist papers and politicians, portraying them as fickle, self-interested and destabilizing.
“A group of reformists have been threatening the President and calling on him and his aides to resign,” Javan asserted in an editorial on Wednesday. “There is no justification for their behavior other than spite and self-interest.”
The paper did not name anyone but was clearly alluding to two former lawmakers and prominent centrists, Hossein Marashi and Elias Hazrati, whose affiliated outlets recently circulated stories about an alleged resignation.
“Reformists are part and parcel of the Islamic Republic and will never find a system more useful for their own interests,” the editorial quipped.
‘Sign of desperation’
Kayhan similarly positioned itself as the reluctant messenger, presenting its criticism of Pezeshkian as quotes from reformist outlets rather than as its own.
The hardline daily — whose chief is appointed by the Supreme Leader’s office — began by faulting “inaction” and “misguided policies” in the administration, while rebuking the public for failing to repent and pray for rain amid a worsening water crisis.
Then came the maneuver: instead of attacking Pezeshkian directly, Kayhan attributed the harshest lines to Iran’s foremost moderate dailies.
“Saying the truth without offering a solution can disrupt people’s peace of mind,” it quoted Ham Mihan’s critique of Pezeshkian. And from Sharq: “The President should talk about solutions and decisions rather than merely presenting problems… The way he spoke revealed the executive body’s desperation.”
‘Got it wrong’
Kayhan also mocked government spokeswoman Fatemeh Mohajerani for sending a “heart” emoji to reporters, repeating Ham Mihan’s jab: “You are not a stand-up comedian!”
Hardline outlets regularly attack presidents, especially those backed by moderates. But they appear to have found a new tactic: using reformist criticism as a shield, undermining Pezeshkian while posing as protectors against what they call disloyalty.
Javan closed with a final swipe that hit two birds at once: the president and his supporters. “Someone preparing to resign does not kick the ball like that,” it wrote, referring to viral images of Pezeshkian visiting the camp of Iran’s national football team.
“Mean-spirited politicians who hope for his resignation have got it wrong.”
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.