US congresswoman joins trend of burning Khamenei's images PHOTO

On January 14, U.S. House Representative Claudia Tenney shared a post on X with a photo showing Iran's Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei being burned to light a cigar.

This post is part of protest imagery circulating online in connection with Iran, Caliber.Az reports.

"Smoke ‘em if you got ‘em," said the Republican House member from New York.

smoke ‘em if you got ‘em#FreeIran https://t.co/y26YLLG9vI pic.twitter.com/z08dUjNXgQ

— Rep. Claudia Tenney (@RepTenney) January 13, 2026

Earlier, US Senator Tim Scheehy posted a photo online in which he is lighting a cigarette using an image of Iran's Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei.

The actions of these US officials come amidst the Iranian government's repression against protesters. The massive unrest in the Islamic Republic began on December 28 over the fall in value of Iran's rial currency and has grown into wider demonstrations and calls for the fall of the clerical establishment.

The US-based HRANA rights group said it had so far verified the deaths of 2,403 protesters, 147 government-affiliated individuals, 12 people aged under 18 and nine non-protest civilians.

By Khagan Isayev