Amid intensifying protests in Iran, the world’s richest man has weighed in.
On January 4, Elon Musk, the multi-billionaire proprietor of social media platform X, responded to a publish by Iran’s Supreme Chief Ayatollah Ali Khamenei that mentioned “we is not going to give in to the enemy” by suggesting in Farsi that he was delusional.
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Then, on Saturday, Musk’s platform X modified the Iranian flag emoji on the location from the one used because the Islamic revolution in 1979 to the pre-revolution flag that includes a lion and solar.
Some demonstrators inside and out of doors of Iran have waved the pre-1979 flag as a protest towards the present regime.
Musk’s strikes have gained some assist from critics of the regime in Tehran. Nevertheless, analysts debate the extent to which such strikes can have an effect on the bottom in Iran.
What’s behind the protests?
Protests in Iran started on December 28 amid hovering inflation within the nation. They’ve since unfold to greater than 100 cities and cities, and are actually reportedly going down in each province within the nation.
“The main focus of the protests is on the core of the state and governance of the nation as a result of political, financial, social, cultural, and even environmental insurance policies haven’t labored for [protesters],” Negar Mortazavi, a senior fellow on the Middle for Worldwide Coverage, informed Al Jazeera. “Economics, although, was the beginning of it.”
Most of the protesters are calling for an finish to the rule of the nation’s ayatollahs who, together with their Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC), took over after the 1979 revolution.
Khamenei, the present supreme chief, has led the nation since 1989. And whereas his rule has survived a lot of waves of unrest, together with the mass “Ladies, Life, Freedom” protests of 2022, some analysts consider that the newest demonstrations are among the many largest challenges his regime has confronted.
“The Trump administration’s choice to stop the Iran nuclear deal in 2018 and reimpose sanctions – and its failure to achieve a brand new take care of Iran final yr – have crippled the financial system and elevated corruption, benefitting a small sanctions-busting elite,” mentioned Barbara Slavin, a distinguished fellow on the Stimson Middle in Washington and a lecturer in worldwide affairs at George Washington College.
“Add to that the extreme blows inflicted on Iran’s regional allies since October 7, 2023, the Israeli and US strikes final summer time, and it’s laborious to see a approach out [for the regime].”
The Iranian regime has enforced an web blackout within the nation since Thursday, although some movies have nonetheless managed to flow into on-line of masked protesters clashing with safety forces in Iranian cities.
The semiofficial information company Tasnim reported on Sunday that the variety of safety personnel killed has reached 109. Opposition activists say the demise toll is greater and contains dozens of protesters.
Al Jazeera can not independently confirm the figures popping out of Iran.
In the meantime, US President Donald Trump has threatened to intervene if the authorities kill extra protesters.
Enter Elon
Musk, a longtime tech mogul heading US government-supported firms together with Tesla and SpaceX, left a task with the Trump administration, the place he led the so-called Division of Authorities Effectivity (DOGE), in late Could.
Musk’s work with DOGE was extensively criticised, although his buy of social media platform X and vocal assist for racist insurance policies have additionally attracted widespread condemnation lately.
At the moment, Musk is extra targeted on his personal companies, although he nonetheless wades into politics every so often, notably to push right-wing conspiracy theories about “white genocide” and immigration.
As for Iran, through the 2022 “Ladies, Life, Freedom” protests and once more in 2025’s 12-Day Conflict – which killed greater than 610 individuals in Iran and 28 in Israel – Musk supplied web entry to individuals contained in the nation by way of his satellite tv for pc service Starlink.
Iran has reportedly jammed Starlink indicators through the newest protests.
“The state makes use of web disruption and shutdown to forestall extra mobilisation of protesters and communication between protest teams and in addition to forestall information of it spreading,” Mortazavi mentioned.
“It nonetheless occurs with a delay when the web comes again on, however what it does is hamper mobilisation and slows down the method of the protests. That’s the primary objective of a comms shutdown.”
That is the place Starlink might be notably helpful. However analysts say Musk responding to Khamenei’s publish and altering the flag on X usually are not seemingly pushed by ideology.
“I doubt he cares about Iran per se,” mentioned Slavin. “However he desires to gin up extra site visitors for X, and that is one approach to do it.”
How helpful are Musk’s newest interventions?
The change of Iran’s flag on X got here amid the web blackout, so many protesters on the bottom have been seemingly unable to see it. Some Iranian officers, nonetheless, have been briefly considered by these outdoors the nation with the pre-Islamic Republic flags of their account profiles.
“It’s a digital model of conquering a constructing and flattening the previous flag, and attempting to place a brand new flag, that was basically the symbolising they have been going for,” historian Reza H Akbari, who can also be an analyst on Iran on the Institute for Conflict and Peace Reporting, informed Al Jazeera.
“The facility of some of these strikes are fairly readily contested in mid- and long-term results,” mentioned Akbari. “However it may present momentary pleasure [for protesters on the ground if they can see it] although it’s very laborious to gauge the quantity of in style assist.”
Slavin informed Al Jazeera that “what is going on outdoors Iran shouldn’t be that related” to what’s going down contained in the nation.
“The true battle for freedom is amongst Iranians continues to be in Iran, not the diaspora or others within the subject,” she mentioned.
“They will amplify developments inside Iran and categorical assist for human rights, however we can not decide the result of the battle.”
A ‘contentious’ flag
In the meantime, Akbari says the pre-1979 flag “has all the time been contentious, basically as a logo for opposition each contained in the nation and overseas”.
He added that whereas the flag could imply various things to totally different critics of the present Iranian authorities, it’s usually related to “the opposition that identifies as monarchist or desires the return of the shah”, who was deposed in 1979.
Throughout latest protests, the ousted shah’s son, Reza Pahlavi, known as on demonstrators to take to the streets and occupy Iranian cities.
Some protesters, together with these outdoors Iran, have known as for a return to rule by the shah, regardless of his questionable recognition. Akbari mentioned that Pahlavi himself has provided to behave as a transitional chief however shouldn’t be seeking to transfer completely to Iran to rule the nation.
Analysts agree that Pahlavi wouldn’t be the person to steer the nation ahead, ought to Iran’s Islamic Republic fall after 47 years in energy.
“At the moment, there are various first rate and succesful individuals in Iran who may substitute these in energy. Sadly, most of them are in jail,” Slavin mentioned.
“The son of the shah, in the meantime, lives comfortably in a mansion in Potomac [in the US state of Maryland]. It’s laborious to see what he gives in the way in which of sensible change.”
