From the Liveblog of
Tuesday, December 30, 2025
Video of protester defying police in Tehran goes viral
Add ToI as a Preferred Source on GoogleA video of a protester sitting in the street and facing down police on motorbikes during demonstrations that erupted in Tehran in recent days has gone viral on social media, with some observers calling it Iran’s “Tiananmen moment.”
Protesters, including shopkeepers and university students, have been rallying against economic hardship in Iran since Sunday.
The viral footage shows a person sitting cross-legged on the road with their head bowed before more than 20 police officers on motorbikes, wearing helmets and dressed all in black. Behind the protester, a crowd runs to escape clouds of tear gas, the footage shows.
A video shared with Iran International showed one protester sitting in the middle of a street in Tehran and refusing to move as motorbike-riding security forces moved in on demonstrators. pic.twitter.com/uic3kBOoPv
— Iran International English (@IranIntl_En) December 29, 2025
Some internet users compare the person to the man who faced a column of tanks in Beijing during the deadly Tiananmen Square crackdown in 1989, following demonstrations demanding greater political freedoms.
An AFP investigation found that the Iranian video was posted on social media at around 1330 GMT yesterday, day two of the protests that began at Tehran’s largest mobile phone market before spreading. AFP was able to confirm that the video was shot on Jomhouri Avenue in central Tehran, near the mobile phone shopping center.
The video and screenshots of the scene have since garnered thousands of likes on Instagram and other social media networks.
The Times of Israel Community.