Iranian refugee’s viral act of defiance spreads amid regime crackdown

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A viral video exhibiting an Iranian refugee lighting a cigarette utilizing a burning picture of Iran’s supreme chief has turn into a world flashpoint as protests rock the Islamic Republic and President Donald Trump weighs navy motion towards the regime.

The Related Press reported the 34-second video exhibits a lady believed to be residing in Canada igniting a photograph of Ayatollah Ali Khamenei – a capital crime in Iran – earlier than calmly lighting a cigarette and letting the picture fall to the bottom.

The photographs accompanying this story present protesters recreating the act at demonstrations outdoors Iran, not the girl featured within the authentic viral video.

The footage has unfold quickly throughout social media as Iran’s authorities carries out a violent crackdown on dissent that activists say has killed hundreds.

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<source media="(min-width: 768px) and (max-width: 1023px)" srcset="https://a57.foxnews.com/static.foxnews.com/foxnews.com/content/uploads/2026/01/672/378/iranian-refugee-burns-khamenei-image-cigarette-video-001.jpg?ve=1&tl=1, https://a57.foxnews.com/static.foxnews.com/foxnews.com/content/uploads/2026/01/1344/756/iranian-refugee-burns-khamenei-image-cigarette-video-001.jpg?ve=1&tl=1 2x" height="378" width="672"><source media="(min-width: 1024px) and (max-width: 1279px)" srcset="https://a57.foxnews.com/static.foxnews.com/foxnews.com/content/uploads/2026/01/931/523/iranian-refugee-burns-khamenei-image-cigarette-video-001.jpg?ve=1&tl=1, https://a57.foxnews.com/static.foxnews.com/foxnews.com/content/uploads/2026/01/1862/1046/iranian-refugee-burns-khamenei-image-cigarette-video-001.jpg?ve=1&tl=1 2x" height="523" width="931"> A protester burns a picture of Ayatollah Ali Khamenei with a cigarette throughout a rally in help of the nationwide anti-government demonstrations in Iran, Tuesday, Jan. 13, 2026 in Zurich, Switzerland. (Michael Buholzer /Keystone by way of AP)

The video has been shared thousands and thousands of occasions throughout platforms similar to X, Instagram and Reddit, with many viewers seeing it as a stark act of defiance towards Iran’s clerical rulers.

Others have questioned whether or not the second was spontaneous or staged, highlighting the rising skepticism that surrounds viral photos in an age of synthetic intelligence and knowledge warfare.

What's undisputed is the symbolism of the act. In Iran, burning a picture of Supreme Chief Ayatollah Ali Khamenei may be punishable by loss of life.

Smoking in public is taken into account conceited, and ladies are legally required to put on hijabs. Within the transient clip, the girl defies all three norms directly, showing without a headscarf as her hair hangs near the flame.

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<source media="(min-width: 768px) and (max-width: 1023px)" srcset="https://a57.foxnews.com/static.foxnews.com/foxnews.com/content/uploads/2026/01/672/378/iranian-refugee-burns-khamenei-image-cigarette-video-002.jpg?ve=1&tl=1, https://a57.foxnews.com/static.foxnews.com/foxnews.com/content/uploads/2026/01/1344/756/iranian-refugee-burns-khamenei-image-cigarette-video-002.jpg?ve=1&tl=1 2x" height="378" width="672"><source media="(min-width: 1024px) and (max-width: 1279px)" srcset="https://a57.foxnews.com/static.foxnews.com/foxnews.com/content/uploads/2026/01/931/523/iranian-refugee-burns-khamenei-image-cigarette-video-002.jpg?ve=1&tl=1, https://a57.foxnews.com/static.foxnews.com/foxnews.com/content/uploads/2026/01/1862/1046/iranian-refugee-burns-khamenei-image-cigarette-video-002.jpg?ve=1&tl=1 2x" height="523" width="931"> A protester smokes a cigarette after lighting it off a burning poster of Iran’s Supreme Chief Ayatollah Ali Khamenei throughout an illustration in Berlin, Germany, in help of the nationwide mass protests in Iran towards the federal government, on Jan. 14, 2026. The picture doesn't present the girl featured within the authentic viral video, which was filmed in Canada. (Ebrahim Noroozi/ AP Photograph)

The gesture has leapt from the digital world into the actual one. Photographs and movies have surfaced from protests in Europe, Israel and the U.S. exhibiting demonstrators lighting cigarettes using images of Khamenei, mimicking what has turn into recognized on-line because the "cigarette lady" second.

Iranian state media has introduced wave after wave of arrests, concentrating on these it labels "terrorists" and seizing Starlink satellite tv for pc web tools – usually the one approach movies can escape the nation throughout government-imposed web blackouts.

Activists say the regime has intensified repression in latest weeks as unrest spreads amid financial collapse and political instability.

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Demonstrators burn a poster depicting Iran's Supreme Chief Ayatollah Ali Khamenei throughout a rally in help of anti-government protests in Iran, in Holon, Israel, on Jan. 14, 2026. (Ohad Zwigenberg/AP Photograph)

The AP reported the girl has described herself in interviews with different shops as an Iranian refugee residing in Toronto , and mentioned she fled Iran after repeated arrests and abuse by safety forces.

She filmed the video on Jan. 7, based on The AP – in the future earlier than Iran imposed a near-total web blackout. She did so to point out solidarity with "associates" contained in the nation, she mentioned. She has requested that her actual title not be revealed, citing fears for her security and for relations who stay in Iran.

The video’s explosive attain underscores how social media has turn into a central battleground in fashionable conflicts, with photos shaping world notion quicker than governments can management them.

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As Trump weighs subsequent steps towards Tehran, the clip has turn into greater than a viral second – it has turn into an emblem of resistance, scrutiny and the excessive stakes of dissent underneath authoritarian rule .