Tehran Regime’s Attempt to Use Images of Renowned Women to End Protests Fails

This combination of pictures created on October 14, 2022 shows (L) Iranians driving past past a huge billboard which reads in Persian “the women of my land, Iran” in Valiasr Square in the capital Tehran, and (R) an image taken on October 13, of a huge billboard showing a montage of pictures titled “the women of my land, Iran” featuring Iranian women who are all observing the hijab, on Valiasr Square in Tehran.(AFP)
This combination of pictures created on October 14, 2022 shows (L) Iranians driving past past a huge billboard which reads in Persian “the women of my land, Iran” in Valiasr Square in the capital Tehran, and (R) an image taken on October 13, of a huge billboard showing a montage of pictures titled “the women of my land, Iran” featuring Iranian women who are all observing the hijab, on Valiasr Square in Tehran.(AFP)
TT
20

Tehran Regime’s Attempt to Use Images of Renowned Women to End Protests Fails

This combination of pictures created on October 14, 2022 shows (L) Iranians driving past past a huge billboard which reads in Persian “the women of my land, Iran” in Valiasr Square in the capital Tehran, and (R) an image taken on October 13, of a huge billboard showing a montage of pictures titled “the women of my land, Iran” featuring Iranian women who are all observing the hijab, on Valiasr Square in Tehran.(AFP)
This combination of pictures created on October 14, 2022 shows (L) Iranians driving past past a huge billboard which reads in Persian “the women of my land, Iran” in Valiasr Square in the capital Tehran, and (R) an image taken on October 13, of a huge billboard showing a montage of pictures titled “the women of my land, Iran” featuring Iranian women who are all observing the hijab, on Valiasr Square in Tehran.(AFP)

A photomontage of dozens of renowned Iranian women all observing hijab disappeared from a Tehran billboard Friday.

Authorities hung up the large montage in a bid to show they had the support of famous women amid ongoing anti-government protests over the death of 22-year-old Mahsa Amini in police custody.

The move backfired and the montage was removed within 24 hours of being erected as it featured some personalities known to oppose the headscarf rule.

Outrage over Amini’s death on September 16, three days after she was arrested by the notorious morality police, has fueled the biggest wave of street protests and violence seen in the country for years.

The montage featured athletes, social and cultural figures, such as late mathematician Maryam Mirzakhani, early 20th-century revolutionary figure Bibi Maryam Bakhtiari and poet Parvin E’tesami.

Fars news agency said the montage was removed after some of the figures featured had asked for their pictures to be taken down, saying they were not consulted beforehand.

Some observers criticized the billboard for showing women who had removed their headscarves during the recent protests, it added.

Iranian actress Fatemeh Motamed-Arya demanded that her picture be removed.

“I am Mahsa’s mother, I am Sarina’s mother, I am the mother of all the children who are killed in this land, I am the mother of all Iran, not a woman in the land of killers,” Motamed-Arya said on Thursday in a video that has since gone viral.

She appeared in the video without a hijab headscarf, seemingly in a vehicle.

The billboard was raised by Owj Arts and Media Organization, known for pro-regime films and cultural productions.

The decision to remove the pictures was taken after “controversies and reactions,” the organization said in a statement carried by state news agency IRNA.

The billboard on Valiasr Square often features symbolic murals related to religious, social and political themes.



Le Pen, Orban Lambast EU at Far-right Rally in France

Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban kisses the hand of French far-right leader and member of parliament Marine Le Pen during the "Fete de la Victoire" (Victory party), an event which gather supporters of the French far-right National Rally (Rassemblement National - RN) political party and nationalist politicians from across Europe to mark a year since the EU elections, in Mormant-sur-Vernisson, in the Loiret department, France, June 9, 2025. (Reuters)
Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban kisses the hand of French far-right leader and member of parliament Marine Le Pen during the "Fete de la Victoire" (Victory party), an event which gather supporters of the French far-right National Rally (Rassemblement National - RN) political party and nationalist politicians from across Europe to mark a year since the EU elections, in Mormant-sur-Vernisson, in the Loiret department, France, June 9, 2025. (Reuters)
TT
20

Le Pen, Orban Lambast EU at Far-right Rally in France

Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban kisses the hand of French far-right leader and member of parliament Marine Le Pen during the "Fete de la Victoire" (Victory party), an event which gather supporters of the French far-right National Rally (Rassemblement National - RN) political party and nationalist politicians from across Europe to mark a year since the EU elections, in Mormant-sur-Vernisson, in the Loiret department, France, June 9, 2025. (Reuters)
Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban kisses the hand of French far-right leader and member of parliament Marine Le Pen during the "Fete de la Victoire" (Victory party), an event which gather supporters of the French far-right National Rally (Rassemblement National - RN) political party and nationalist politicians from across Europe to mark a year since the EU elections, in Mormant-sur-Vernisson, in the Loiret department, France, June 9, 2025. (Reuters)

French far-right leader Marine Le Pen and Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban on Monday launched scathing attacks on the EU at a rally in France aimed at flaunting the unity and strength of the anti-immigration wing of European politics.

Aimed at marking one year since Le Pen's National Rally (RN) crushed opponents to win their best-ever vote share in European elections, the get-together in Mormant-sur-Vernisson south of Paris brought together far-right leaders from across Europe.

The mood was buoyant and confident in the wake of Donald Trump's return to the White House earlier this year and strong election results across the continent.

Orban, reveling in his self-proclaimed status as the "black sheep of the EU" and "Brussels' nightmare", likened European migration policy to "an organized exchange of populations to replace the cultural base" of the continent.

Boasting of having been able to "push back migrants" in his country, even if it meant incurring sanctions from Brussels, Orban told the several thousands present: "We will not let them destroy our cities."

Le Pen, in her speech, described the European Union as a "graveyard of politically unfulfilled promises" and termed it "woke and ultra-liberal".

"We don't want to leave the table. We want to finish the game and win, to take power in France and in Europe and give it back to the people," she said.

Her party previously backed France's exit from the EU. But now it preaches European reform while remaining a member as Le Pen seeks to make the party electable and shake off the legacy of her late father Jean-Marie Le Pen.

Other attendees included Italy's Deputy Prime Minister and leader of the League party Matteo Salvini, the leader of Spain's Vox party Santiago Abascal and former Czech premier Andrej Babis.

They are all part of the Patriots for Europe faction in the European parliament, one of no less than three competing far-right factions in the chamber.

Salvini meanwhile described migration as a "threat" to Europe.

"The threat to our children is an invasion of illegal immigrants, mainly Islamists, financed and organized in the silence of Brussels," he affirmed from the podium, calling on European "patriots" to "work together" to "take back control of the destiny and future of Europe."

In a sign of the controversy over the meeting, some 4,000 people from the left, hard left and trade unions protested in the nearby town of Montargis, according to organizers, vowing to "build resistance" and proclaiming the far-right leaders were "not welcome".

"You have here the worst of the racist and xenophobic European far-right that we know only too well," said French hard-left MEP Manon Aubry.

The meeting also comes less than two years ahead of watershed presidential elections in France where President Emmanuel Macron, who has long promoted himself as a bulwark against the far-right, cannot stand again and the RN sees its best ever chance of taking power.

But it is far from certain if Le Pen will stand for a fourth time as her conviction earlier this year in a fake jobs scandal disqualifies her from standing from public office.

She has appealed. But waiting in the wings is her protege and RN party leader Jordan Bardella, 29, who would stand if Le Pen was ineligible.

Bardella, who polls have shown would still be set to win the first round of presidential elections if he stands, is taking care to project his image including a long TV interview with star anchor Karine Le Marchand aimed at showing his softer side.

"We reject the Europe of Ursula von der Leyen," Bardella told the rally, referring to the chief of the EU Commission. "We reject the Europe of Macron... We represent the rebirth of a true Europe."

As well as Le Pen's legal limbo, the contours of the French 2027 presidential election remain largely unclear, with center-right former prime minister Edouard Philippe the only major player to clearly state he will stand.

Orban urged the RN to emerge triumphant from the elections.

"Without you, we will not be able to occupy Brussels (...) We will not be able to save Hungary from the Brussels guillotine," said Orban.