Toomaj Salehi, a popular artist, responded to Ali Karimi’s vulgar insults and the wave of organized attacks by the Pahlavi faction by releasing a blunt and forceful video, exposing the nature of these behaviors—actions which, according to him, are either directly part of intelligence projects or, at best, unknowingly serve the same apparatus of repression.
In the video, Toomaj emphasizes that the destruction of reputations, verbal abuse, and attacks on independent and grassroots voices are neither accidental nor spontaneous. He states plainly: “These actions are intelligence work; and even if you’re not [intelligence agents], you’re unknowingly its soldiers.” This line quickly spread across social media and became a symbol of exposing a project of division.
According to many activists, such organized attacks have for years—through political thuggery, silencing independent voices, and reproducing a culture of threats and insults—effectively played into the hands of the Islamic Republic.
Toomaj Salehi’s video once again laid bare the deep rift between genuine, grassroots protest and a vulgar, abusive opposition: a rift in which one side pays with prison and even life itself, while the other, through insults and threats, knowingly or unknowingly plays the role of foot soldiers of repression.
Thuggish groups and extremist currents affiliated with the Pahlavis have in recent years played a destructive role in sowing division and fractures within the Iranian opposition. Instead of focusing on confronting the Islamic Republic, they have weakened opposition unity through organized attacks, character assassination of independent activists, and the silencing of critical voices.
Critics argue that these behaviors are not accidental, but rather aligned with the interests of those in power.
Within this context, Mike Pompeo, a former senior U.S. official, had stated at a meeting that Reza Pahlavi and his faction maintain direct and ongoing ties with the IRGC, designated as a terrorist organization.
These perspectives raise serious questions about the true role of the Pahlavi-centered current in Iran’s future political developments and the extent of its independence from the ruling power structure.
