Speaking at the inaugural ceremony of the first Chinese Consulate-General in Iran’s southern port city of Bandar Abbas on 21 December, Ambassador Chang Hua affirmed China’s support for Iran’s sovereignty and territorial integrity. Hua stressed that Beijing sees its relations with the Islamic Republic “from a strategic point of view” and is committed to strengthening its comprehensive partnership with Tehran.

In a narrative crafted by various political and intellectual currents, the “Iranian Instagram” is often presented as a means of depoliticising the attitudes and behaviours of the Iranian people, with its users engaging in vulgar content, falling for false news and claims, cursing at famous figures, and morbidly posting accounts of the more attractive sides of their daily lives. This same formulation is used by the conservative movement (also called the Principalists movement) to realise their policy of "organisation" and "protection" of the Internet. Using comparable language, pro-change political currents also direct users to ostensibly more political platforms, such as Twitter and Clubhouse. However, if this is the case, why has Instagram become one of the most prominent platforms for expressing and even organising political protests in the “Mahsa Moment?”

The number of street demonstrations in Iran has decreased in recent weeks – but they have not gone away, defying some of the early predictions that they would fade, and yet also failing to shake the foundations of the Islamic republic. If anything, the protest movement has proven to be resilient. It has now been more than 100 days since the protests erupted across Iran following the death of Mahsa Amini, who was arrested by morality police in September for alleged non-compliance with a mandatory dress code for women.The number of street demonstrations in Iran has decreased in recent weeks – but they have not gone away, defying some of the early predictions that they would fade, and yet also failing to shake the foundations of the Islamic republic. If anything, the protest movement has proven to be resilient. It has now been more than 100 days since the protests erupted across Iran following the death of Mahsa Amini, who was arrested by morality police in September for alleged non-compliance with a mandatory dress code for women.

The state visit of Chinese President Xi to Saudi Arabia is not solely about oil, but it is about showing the United States that new geopolitical allies have been found.