Fact Check: Woman in Iran removes burqa, shows explicit message against Ayatollah Ali Khamenei? No, video is from Paris
A video claiming to show an act of defiance by a woman in Iran against Ayatollah Ali Khamenei amid the ongoing protests has gone viral.
By - Dheeshma Puzhakkal
Claim:In Iran, a woman publicly removes her burqa to reveal a t-shirt carrying an explicit message against Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.
Fact:The claim is misleading. The video is not from Iran. It was recorded at a rally held in Paris, France, in support of Iranian protesters.
Hyderabad: Nearly 650 protesters have reportedly been killed in demonstrations that have swept Iran since December 28, 2025.
In this context, a video showing a woman removing her hijab and revealing an explicit message against Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei is being widely shared on social media. The clip is being presented as a bold act of protest by a woman inside Iran.
Sharing the video on Instagram, The Mojo Story wrote, “In Iran, this single act of public defiance against Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei carries the risk of death yet protesters continue to challenge the regime, knowing the cost.” (Archive)
Journalist Nabila Jamal also posted the video on X, claiming it was from Iran. "Iran – Woman publicly removes her burqa to reveal a T-shirt carrying an explicit message against Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei. Such an act is punishable by death under Iranian law... but protestors willing to take that risk and challenge the regime #IranProtests #Iran,” she wrote. (Archive)
But is this video really from Iran?
Fact Check
A NewsMeter investigation found that the video was filmed at Place Victor Hugo, Paris. The woman seen in the video is Camille Eros, a French activist.
Geolocating the video
Using reverse image search, we found that the same video was also shared on Facebook, where it was described as being from a protest in Paris.
On closely observing the video, we noticed that the buildings visible in the background resemble classic Haussmannian-style architecture, which is characteristic of Paris.
Using Google Lens, we reverse image-searched the buildings seen in the video. This led us to an image of the same structure posted by a user on Instagram, identifying the location as Paris.
We then shared the Instagram image with Gemini to identify the location. Gemini suggested that the building could be located near the corner of Avenue Foch and Avenue Raymond Poincaré in Paris’s 16th arrondissement.
A Google Maps search showed that this area is close to Place Victor Hugo. Further, according to an Euronews report, a protest march was held on January 11 from Place Victor Hugo to the Trocadéro in support of Iranian protesters.
Using these cues, we examined the Google Street View imagery from Place Victor Hugo and were able to match the buildings seen in the viral video to the structures located at the traffic circle.
Who is the woman in the video?
Several users on X identified the woman in the video as French activist Camille Eros. Following this lead, we searched for her social media profiles and found the same video posted by her on X and on her verified Instagram account on January 11.
A comparison of the woman’s face in the viral video with the profile picture and other posts on these accounts confirms that the individual seen in the clip is indeed Camille Eros.
Conclusion
The viral video claiming to show a woman in Iran protesting against Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei is misleading. The clip was recorded in Paris during a rally held in support of Iranian protesters, and the woman seen in the video is French activist Camille Eros—not a protester inside Iran.
