Tehran/IBNS, Jan. 9 -- In a bold act of defiance, Iranian women were seen burning posters of Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei to light cigarettes, as part of growing protests against the Islamic Republic's clerical establishment.

The act has been widely interpreted as a symbolic protest against state control over women's lives and broader restrictions on personal freedoms.

The dramatic visuals have emerged amid mass anti-government protests that have intensified in Tehran and several other cities, marking one of the largest waves of dissent against Iran's leadership in recent years.

The demonstrations have been fuelled by soaring inflation, a struggling economy, and repeated crackdowns by security forces, further eroding public tr...