Iran International
A review of public statements by Iran’s senior officials since late December suggests a marked hardening of tone as protests escalated, a shift that coincided with a sharp intensification of the state’s security response.
The protests began on December 28 amid soaring inflation. It initially drew a more measured response from the government.
But following a surge in demonstrations on January 8, and especially after a Supreme Leader speech the following day, officials reverted to a familiar framing: unrest portrayed as a foreign-backed security threat demanding a forceful response.
In an interview with Al Jazeera broadcast between January 9 and 12, Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi said protests had been peaceful from December 28 through January 7, but claimed that “armed terrorist elements linked to Israel and the United States” had subsequently turned them violent.
The judiciary soon echoed that framing.
Speaking to bazaar merchants on January 10, Chief Justice Gholamhossein Mohseni Ejei said protesters had initially “demanded the country’s progress,” avoiding direct reference to the violent response.
Three days later, he called for the immediate trial of detainees, and in a January 14 post on X announced plans to televise the trials of what he called the “main culprits” in order to expose their alleged foreign ties.
Around the same time, footage of Ejei interrogating a detainee on state television circulated on social media.
‘No peace, only war’
The rhetorical shift became unmistakable on January 9, when Khamenei delivered a speech that many observers viewed as pivotal. He described protesters as “rioters under foreign influence” and urged security forces to confront them sternly.
President Masoud Pezeshkian, who until then had acknowledged protesters’ grievances and expressed openness to dialogue, followed suit.
“(They are) violent terrorists and rioters brought from abroad to attack mosques and civilians,” he said, urging the public “to stop the terrorists.”
Other senior figures reinforced the message. Security Chief Ali Larijani said on January 11 that forces were “controlling the protests with minimal damage,” despite emerging videos of a bloody crackdown.
“There will be no peace and no ceasefire, only war,” he warned protesters.
‘Conspiracy’
Some civilian officials sought to strike a more conciliatory tone, though without challenging the core narrative. Government spokesperson Fatemeh Mohajerani condemned violence in general terms and said the internet blackout—entering its eighth day on Thursday—was a “temporary measure.”
Parliament Speaker Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf said on January 13 that “protesting is the people’s legitimate right” and promised to address economic grievances, while also accusing protesters of “seeking violence.”
Military commanders, meanwhile, were more explicit. From January 8 through 14, senior officers repeatedly characterized the unrest as a “conspiracy” orchestrated by Israel and unnamed terrorist groups.
Army Commander Abdolrahim Mousavi praised the Basij domestic enforcement militia and police for “controlling the riots,” warned of possible direct military involvement, and described the protests as “a malicious conspiracy.”
Police Commander Ahmadreza Radan said “the level of confrontation has been raised,” warned that attacks on police stations “will not be tolerated,” and described police conduct as “mild” despite reports of mounting casualties.
Taken together, the statements reflect a rapid convergence among Iran’s political, judicial and security elites around a securitized narrative after January 8—one that recast the protests as an externally driven threat that can only be thwarted with bullets.
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.