Decoupled From the Internet, IRGC Media Talks of Unity

Largely cut off from the internet since January 8, the Iranian population has had extremely limited access to Iranian media. Permitted sites have included the likes of Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei’s official website and a couple of Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps-affiliated outlets with privileged internet access. This severely restricts any analysis of events in Iran but also lays bare the message the Islamic Republic propaganda machinery wants to communicate: regime cohesion, elite unity, and societal calm. The latter, particularly, is increasingly difficult to believe.

• January 12: Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps-affiliated Fars News Agency’s Telegram channel posted photos of pro-regime rallies in Tehran and other locations.
• January 12: Fars News Agency’s Telegram channel released a video of Supreme National Security Council Secretary Ali Larijani participating in the rally in Tehran. In a brief comment, Larijani said the people have taken to the streets of Tehran in a display of unity to declare support to the regime and to “settle scores with America and Israel.”
• January 12: Fars News Agency released a message of thanks from Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei to Iranians who participated in pro-regime rallies.

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