Iranian state authorities declare a state of war and warn of enemy infiltration ahead of the Chaharshanbe Suri fire festival, while exiled Crown Prince Reza Pahlavi urges peaceful celebrations and warns security forces to stand down.
Domestic Iranian authorities and exiled opposition leaders are issuing conflicting directives ahead of the ancient Chaharshanbe Suri fire festival. State-aligned channels, including آخرین خبر (Akharin Khabar) and اخبارفوری (Akhbar Fori), broadcasted dire warnings from Police Chief Sardar Radan regarding impending security threats. According to Akharin Khabar, Radan declared that the country is currently in a special situation where a state of war practically governs the nation and its medical and relief forces. He warned that enemies intend to exploit the festival to inflict casualties and inflame the country.
Akhbar Fori further reported Radan's claims that the enemy might infiltrate spies and agents disguised as festival celebrants to create widespread insecurity. In a parallel domestic effort to steer the event, Abolfazl Aboutorabi, a parliament member representing Najafabad, encouraged citizens to utilize the festival for state-sponsored demonstrations. As reported by the opposition network Iran International, Aboutorabi suggested that people should gather in public squares to burn American and Israeli flags to thwart enemy plots.Conversely, Iran International extensively covered exiled Crown Prince Reza Pahlavi's appeals for a peaceful celebration of Iranian cultural heritage. In a video message addressed to the Iranian public, Pahlavi urged citizens to light fires of peace and life in their local neighborhoods and alleys while maintaining strict vigilance to avoid any tension, clashes, or proximity to regime mercenaries. "The goal of the agents of evil is to drag your celebration of light, purity, and life into darkness, filth, and death. Do not give them this opportunity," he stated.
Pahlavi also issued a direct ultimatum to the Islamic Republic's security apparatus. He commanded suppressive forces to vacate the streets, alleys, and neighborhoods by 6:00 PM, warning that the consequences of remaining in the streets to suppress a peaceful celebration would fall squarely on them. Furthermore, in a message to the international community on X, Pahlavi requested that the world not take its eyes off Iran, cautioning that the regime has threatened lethal force against a people determined to celebrate life, light, and hope in the face of darkness.
The reporting starkly contrasts the exiled opposition's framing of a peaceful cultural celebration against the Iranian regime's framing of imminent security threats and espionage. Bias labels have been applied to contextualize the opposing narratives. Tone and loaded terminology ('regime mercenaries', 'state of war', 'suppressive forces') have been preserved without sanitization to reflect the original Farsi sentiment accurately.