Amidst the wave of protests and growing social discontent in Iran, images and videos of women lighting cigarettes with burning photographs of the supreme leader, Ayatollah **Ali Khamenei**, have gone viral. This gesture has become a **symbol of defiance against the regime and the strict social norms imposed by the Islamic Republic**, interpreted both inside and outside the country as a form of symbolic protest
The video that has gone around the world shows an Iranian woman residing in Canada lighting a cigarette with an image of Khamenei. Although the action was recorded outside Iran, its impact has been replicated by women within the country and widely disseminated on platforms like X, Instagram, and Telegram. Burning images of the supreme leader constitutes a serious crime under Iranian law, and smoking without a hijab in public is a controversial act that challenges the norms of control over women. The combination of both gestures makes the action a high-risk act of political and social defiance
Rubén Gisbert, a lawyer and YouTuber known for his controversial media activity, published a tweet stating that the protagonist of the video was Canadian and that her gesture was superficial, an act of "TikTok posturing." However, the young woman is Iranian by birth, has lived her entire life in Iran, and since the age of 17, she suffered detentions, threats, and abuse for questioning the mandatory hijab on YouTube programs. After being sentenced to a long prison term, she had to flee the country and is currently in Canada as a political refugee.
The woman's gesture is framed within a broader context of protests originating from the economic crisis, inflation, and the rising cost of living, which over time evolved into a movement rejecting the theocratic political system established after the 1979 Islamic Revolution. Among the demands are greater individual freedoms, women's rights, and, in some sectors, profound changes to the state model.
Despite internet outages and security force repression, demonstrations continue. Human rights organizations denounce systematic violence against protesters, with **more than 400 dead and hundreds injured**, although exact figures vary by source
Human rights experts highlight that the virality of the video and other similar gestures are not superficial or symbolic for notoriety, but rather represent the bravery of those who defy a repressive regime, often putting their lives and those of their families at risk. Gisbert's misinformation has been criticized for minimizing these risks and ridiculing real victims, contributing to a false narrative that distorts the reality of Iranian activism.