Iran International
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.
Ali Moridi, head of the Water, Wastewater and Environmental Engineering Department at Shahid Abbaspour University of Water and Power Industry, said Iran’s water emergency stemmed not only from its arid climate but from a chronic disconnect between scientists, industry, and government agencies.
“If the current situation continues, it is not unlikely that Iran’s central plateau will become depopulated,” Moridi told reporters at a university briefing.
Moridi cited research linking groundwater depletion and soil salinity to rural migration in southern provinces such as Fars, where vanishing wells have pushed villagers toward cities, worsening urban sprawl and social pressures.
“Many rural communities with high migration rates were directly affected by falling groundwater levels and the salinization of drinking water,” he said.
He urged stronger cooperation between academia and policymakers and showcased a new university-led “biochar” project that converts agricultural waste into a soil additive capable of reducing water use in farming – a sector that consumes over 80 percent of Iran’s water.
“The project must move from the lab to the field,” he said. “Reducing agricultural water use is vital if Iran is to survive this crisis.”
Nationwide emergency
Moridi’s comments come as Tehran faces unannounced nightly water cuts, with reservoirs at record lows and drought conditions worsening across 20 provinces.
The Karaj Dam, one of the capital’s main suppliers, has dropped to less than 10 percent of capacity, officials said this week.
Energy Minister Abbas Aliabadi said on Saturday that some of the city’s pipeline infrastructure was “over 100 years old and severely damaged,” forcing the government to cut nighttime supply to prevent network collapse.
President Masoud Pezeshkian warned earlier this week that Tehran could face mass evacuation if the drought persists through winter. “If it doesn’t rain, we will have no water,” he said.
Meteorologists say the country has entered one of its driest 50-year periods, with rainfall down more than 85 percent compared with last year.
The National Drought Crisis Center has classified the situation as “severe,” warning that no significant rain is forecast for at least ten days.
Speaking at a ceremony marking the anniversary of the 1979 US embassy takeover on Monday, Khamenei urged women to remind those around them to observe Islamic dress codes.
“Remind the women around you to view the hijab as a religious, Islamic, Zahra-like and Zeynab-like matter,” he said, referring to early Islamic matriarchs.
The word choice was careful and subtle, but more than enough for the intended audience.
Following the speech, Judiciary Chief Gholamhossein Mohseni Ejei told prosecutors and citizens they “have a duty to carry out (the religious duty of) commanding good and forbidding evil,” promising full judicial backing for such actions.
Conservative voices quickly circulated Khamenei’s comments on social media, portraying them as permission to confront unveiled women.
“Does our dear Leader’s order mean anything but jihad of explanation and to command good? May those who claim he has compromised on Sharia and hijab be struck dumb!” one ultra-hardliner wrote on X.
Another posted: “Once again the Leader of the Ummah himself intervened, reminding us of the duty to enjoin hijab and forbid indecency—both in positive and preventive ways.”
Writer Mohammad Nikbakht interpreted the remarks as signaling a softer, bottom-up approach, arguing that Khamenei meant that hijab enforcement should start within families, “not through morality police, legislation, fines, or arrests.”
Rare intervention
Khamenei has rarely addressed hijab directly in the past year.
In April 2023, he accused foreign intelligence services of encouraging Iranian women to disobey the mandatory hijab and declared such defiance “religiously and politically haram.”
That statement spurred a short-lived official campaign to restore control after the Woman, Life, Freedom protests.
He did not revisit the issue publicly until now, and earlier this year appeared to sidestep an ultra-hardline lawmaker’s question about why the law had not been implemented.
Law stalled
Iran’s Parliament passed the “Hijab and Chastity Law” in September 2024, imposing sweeping new restrictions. But the Supreme National Security Council quietly suspended its enforcement amid fears of renewed unrest.
That decision was widely viewed as carrying Khamenei’s consent, but his latest remarks are now being read by hardliners as a cue to resume implementation.
In late March, police even dispersed about two dozen pro-hijab vigilantes who had camped outside parliament for over 45 days; no arrests were reported.
A user named Seyyedeh lamented online: “How many people can we warn? How long can we walk the streets? Unveiling has spread everywhere like locusts. God, take our revenge on these traitorous, indifferent officials who have no honor!!”
Political rift, rising defiance
Officials fear that reviving morality patrols or tightening hijab rules amid economic hardship could reignite mass protests.
President Masoud Pezeshkian has said he cannot enforce the law and insists that only “dialogue” can persuade women—a stance conservatives blame for paralysis.
Senior Revolutionary Guards general Hassan-Nia rebuked him this week: “Dialogue won’t fix the problem. Firm action is required. If the Leader permits, we will tear the skin off their heads.”
Meanwhile, defiance keeps growing, even in religious cities such as Qom and Mashhad.
In Tehran, unveiled women now outnumber those covered in many neighborhoods, and social media is filled with scenes of mixed gatherings, music, dancing, and women in crop tops.
“Yes, we say there shouldn’t be excessive policing,” former conservative parliament deputy speaker Ali Motahari told Pezeshkian, “but who is supposed to stop a woman who walks around with her belly button exposed?”
