The Tehran Street Corner Used For Iran's Combative Propaganda

RFE
30 Jan 2026, 17:55 GMT+10

A gigantic billboard threatening a US naval flotilla that is currently nearing the Iranian coast is the latest visual propaganda message that has been rolled out above one Tehran street corner in recent months.

A billboard threatening US naval forces seen on Enqelab Square on January 26. English text (right) declares, If you sow the wind, you will reap the whirlwind, referencing a biblical proverb.

The image of a battered aircraft carrier trailing blood looms over Tehrans Enqelab (Islamic Revolution) Square, which sits on the main road from Tehran's international airport. Over the past two months, at least five different propaganda posters have been installed on the busy street corner.

A mural on the Enqelab Square intersection on January 24 declaring Iran is our country, its flag our burial shroud."

The strikingly large mural gives Tehran a way to effectively hack into the Western media ecosystem, according toDarren Linvill,a professor with the Media Forensics hub at Clemson University. They create these images so that they will be shared by [Western media outlets] and then from there to social media. In that context, he told RFE/RL that despite the expense of frequently updated, building-sized posters, in the grand scheme of things, billboards are cheap.

A mural on Enqelab Square in November 2025 blends historical figures and a 2016 incident in which American naval crews were captured by Iranian forces after a navigational error. The Farsi text says, You will kneel before Iran again.

Janatan Sayeh,a research analyst with the Washington-based Foundation for Defense of Democracies, told RFE/RL that another purpose of large-scale murals such as the one on Enqelab Square is "constant exposure, ensuring citizens encounter propaganda everywhere, from the metro to public parks. He adds that its a psychological tactic meant to remind Iranians there is no escape from the regime."

The Enqelab Square billboard depicting nuclear scientists and centrifuges with the slogan science is power" in August 2025.

Since the 1979 Islamic revolution, there have been murals on Tehran city blocks threatening the US and Israel. Howevers, the use of massive billboards that can be changed overnight has been adopted only in recent years.

The Enqelab Square billboard, pictured in October 2024, depicting a rain of missiles striking Israel. The text includes a Farsi phrase "If you want war, we are the master of war."

Photos of the Enqelab Square billboard first appeared in Iranian news agencies in early 2023. Anothersmaller billboardin nearby Vali Asr Square has been used since 2015 to project regime messaging that often reflects the issues of the moment or Islamist tropes.

A billboard that apparently promoted Irans Basij paramilitary organization burns during protests in Tehran that followed the death of Mahsa Amini in September 2022.

Government propaganda billboardshave been torchedduring anti-government uprisings in recent years, but there is no evidence the Enqelab Square billboard, known as a rallying point for pro-regime demonstrations, was targeted. Some Iranians reportedly usedthe blood of those killed in the latest unrestto write anti-regime messages on shop fronts.

The Enqelab billboard with a banner depicting historical and contemporary world leaders with the words, "the promise of American freedom," in November 2025.

Some Iranians have expressing anger at the belligerent tone of some billboards. One womantold a journalistthat banners such as the one seen above threatening Israel are just provoking more tension.

The Enqelab Square billboard depicting a hero from the epic Persian poem Shahnameh, battling a creature with the colors of the American flag.

With the Iranian government recently lurching from crisis to crisis, analyst Sayeh says the aggressive propaganda seen above Enqelab Square is often at odds with what is taking place behind closed doors. "Image is everything for the regime, and it cannot afford to appear weak to its support base. This is why there are moments when it issues public threats while it seeks to de-escalate in private," he said.

The Tehran Street Corner Used For Iran's Combative Propaganda