cross-posted from: mander.xyz/post/49254720
As Tehran tightens control over wartime information, one of Iran’s most influential citizen journalists has come under renewed pressure: Vahid Online, long anonymous, is now stepping into the open.
For more than a decade, the anonymous operator behind Vahid Online built a vast following by aggregating videos, images and reports from inside Iran—often capturing events that state-controlled media ignore or suppress.
During the January protests, he was among the first to publish images from inside a Tehran morgue showing people searching for missing loved ones among rows of body bags.
During the 2022 Woman, Life, Freedom movement, many of the most iconic images—of both defiance and repression—first appeared on his channels.
Now, as the current conflict drives demand for real-time, uncensored information, his channels have once again surged in prominence.
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Meanwhile, Iran sees ongoing resistance after the uprising
Beyond the uprising, Iran experienced thousands of sectoral protests throughout the year. In total, more than 4,000 protest actions were recorded when combining the uprising and labor/sectoral demonstrations.
Major Groups Involved:
- Workers: The largest share of protests, driven by unpaid wages, layoffs, and unsafe conditions across oil, industrial, and infrastructure sectors
- Retirees: Frequent weekly gatherings over pensions, healthcare costs, and declining living standards
- Truck drivers: Nationwide strikes over fuel quotas, rising costs, and low freight rates
- Teachers and public employees: Protests over wages, benefits, and employment insecurity
- Farmers: Demonstrations over water shortages, mismanagement, and agricultural policies
- Students: Campus protests over repression, arrests, and deteriorating conditions