Is Iran’s Regime Really Listening? Or Just Buying Time?

What happens when protests shake a regime built on control, not consent? 

We look at Iran’s largest wave of unrest since 2022. Fueled by economic collapse and skyrocketing inflation, the protests are no longer just about hardship, they’ve become openly anti-government, spreading even into rural areas. We break down Iran’s unprecedented tone shift in crisis comms, explore the influential role of the Iranian diaspora, and consider how narratives are being shaped despite media restrictions. 

And we pivot to examine Donald Trump’s striking effort to brand U.S. institutions with his name, followed by a look into 2026 with helpful resources for PR pros preparing for global risks. 

Listen For

:47 What’s really fueling Iran’s latest wave of protests?
4:28 How does Iran’s diaspora influence global perception?
5:39 Can Trump gain political advantage from Iran’s instability?
6:14 Why is Trump rebranding national institutions with his name?
12:46 What tools can help PR pros prepare for global risks in 2026?

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Chapters

• 0:47 What’s really fueling Iran’s latest wave of protests?
• 4:29 How does Iran’s diaspora influence global perception?
• 5:39 Can Trump gain political advantage from Iran’s instability?
• 6:15 Why is Trump rebranding national institutions with his name?
• 12:45 What tools can help PR pros prepare for global risks in 2026?

Transcript

Farzana Baduel (00:05):
Hello, hello and happy new year. Welcome to the week unspun. A weekly live look through the eyes of PR pros from around the world. My name is Farzana Baduel here in London.

David Gallagher (00:18):
David Gallagher, also here in London.

Doug Downs (00:20):
And I'm Doug Downs in Canada's Rocky Mountains.

Farzana Baduel (00:23):
Now, this week we have quite a few things that we're going to look at. We're going to look at the situation in Iran and that's going to be Doug who's going to be laying out that story for us. And then we're going to zoom out and examine how and why President Trump seems to be rebranding everything with his name. And then we'll peer into 2026 with some helpful resources. So Doug, let's start with you.

Doug Downs (00:47):
So these Iran protests, they've turned deadly now. Iran is in its biggest wave of unrest since 2022. This was driven by a plunging currency and a cost of living shock. The protests, they actually started on Sunday with shopkeepers in Tehran, but now this has spread throughout the country, including the rural areas. And that's a big part of this. On the free market, one US dollar buys roughly 1.35 million reals, one pound, 1.82 million reals, unreal. Official data puts inflation at 42 percent, so people are feeling the crunch here. And the tone of the protest, this is big, has shifted since Sunday. They aren't just about the economic collapse anymore. They're openly anti government. We want the Mullahs Gone, is a common refrain, not just in Tehran again, throughout the rural areas. So the government's in full crisis comms mode. The headline move is a substantial shift in tone.

(01:48):
 From the president, he's told officials to hear the protesters legitimate demands and push toward dialogue. Rod Cartwright would say that sounds like classic de escalation script. He's right, but in Iran, that hasn't been done before. The state's playbook has always leaned hard on control, not consent. Iranian officials have acknowledged economic pain in the past, but calling demands legitimate and talking about dialogue with protest leaders is unprecedented. And the story can feel a bit underplayed in the media, although it's certainly grabbing big headlines now, especially today. It's because access is tight. Verification is hard. Reporting is difficult with fragments of video that need to be substantiated and independently confirmed, and that's hard with stuff coming from Iran. So these are the ripple effects that I see. The narrative split inside Iran. The government has two key messages out there. One, they have legitimate demands. And two, hey, this is all foreign interference.

(02:50):
 The second ripple effect is more sanctions, which is kind of where the headlines are leaning today. And don't forget the energy costs that ripple out to all of us, right? The petrol costs, the gas costs at the gas station. And then shipping and insurance costs, even without major supply disruption, perceived risk can push up war risk insurance and freight costs, which feeds inflation pressure downstream for you and me. So Farzana, I guess first I'll go to you. What do you see happening? I see this as a substantial change in tone coming from the leadership of Iran.

Farzana Baduel (03:25):
I think what's quite interesting is that when you have countries like Iran that are on the brink of war, they often would leverage their diaspora. And diaspora is often referred to as a living bridge, a really important sort of communications channel for a state. Now, the problem with Iran's diaspora is that there is a deep disconnect because the majority of the diaspora around the world are actually very, very unhappy with the state because they fled in 1979 with the fall of the Shah of Iran. So they tend to be the Westernized liberal elite that fled. And so they will not be helping the state in their sort of communications and lobbying efforts. And they themselves are quite influential. You've got huge communities in the US so much so I think in California it's called Tehrangeles. You've got a huge community in London, in Germany as well, and they no doubt have also been helping in lobbying various different Western governments in terms of what is happening there with regards to women's rights and a number of others.

(04:28):
 So I think that diaspora aspect is really interesting because Iran uniquely has a diaspora that is very sort of adamant against the state.

Doug Downs (04:37):
And David, I mean, today the headlines are Iran saying, "Hey, Trump, stay out of our business." And there's talk about him increasing economic sanctions. Is that just normal for a Western president or US president when Iran is suffering and in the headlines?

David Gallagher (04:54):
Yeah. Well, I would guess so. And this might surprise you to hear me say this. I think this could be an opportunity for Trump to have a little bit of a win. I mean, the US has had an adversarial relationship with Iran, at least since the 80s and the hostage crisis. I'm not sitting in the US. I don't know how this one's playing out in US media, but I think the US media might be sympathetic to an aggressive push in support of the resistance against the Iranian regime. So Trump could get a win out of this if he plays it well.

Farzana Baduel (05:27):
Yeah. I mean, it is one of those closed countries that I think people have been incredibly fascinated to go to understand it more. And I think time will tell to see whether or not it opens up to the rest of the world.

David Gallagher (05:39):
Well, if our listeners know about the structure of the industry there, the comms industry, there is one. I was invited to speak there a few years ago and my employer at the time wouldn't insure my travel. So I had to decline that, but I am curious about the structure of the industry, which I think is probably pretty resilient, but it's very inward focus, as you say, Farzana. Maybe it's a moment for us to shift gears, maybe zoom out or zoom back to the US. You drew our attention to this kind of branding spree that President Trump seems to be on with one in particular.

Farzana Baduel (06:14):
Yeah. I've been going to the US for such a long time because I've got a lot of cousins out there and I used to always, and particularly in Chicago, I've got a lovely sort of family friend who used to go and visit. And other than the freezing cold, the only thing I can remember is Trump's name on the buildings in very prominent sort of parts. And I remember thinking back then, thinking, "Gosh, who is this man?" And it's extraordinary because actually when you think about it, a lot of people would put up skyscrapers, but they wouldn't understand the value of putting their name brand. And so Trump did do that in the early years, and that does show an understanding of the value of branding. And over here, what you see is you've started to have, during his second term, he's attached his name to a growing number of American institutions and symbols, the Trump Kennedy Center, America's most prestigious performing arts venue.

(07:07):
 We've also seen his name attached to the Donald J. Trump United States Institute of Peace. Trump accounts for newborn babies, Trump gold cards for wealthy residency seekers, a proposed Trump class of US Navy battleships, a Trump commemorative coin tied to America's 250th anniversary, which very excitedly is this year. And Trump's portraits appearing on federal buildings and national park passes. Now, this isn't a policy announcement. It is a branding event. And I want to, first of all, go to you, David, because I wanted you to shed some light on some witty resistance that has come to fore.

David Gallagher (07:48):
Well, I wish I had thought of this, and this is just in response to one of the examples you raised, but a guy named Toby Morton, who has written for South Park, the satirical show, immediately saw the opportunity to get the rights to TrumpKennedyCenter.org and put up a satirical website. It's still live. It's worth going to take a look at. So that diminished the impact, I don't know, but it was just kind of a funny thing.

Doug Downs (08:15):
These are the same guys that said blame Canada every step of the way, right? South Park? I just want to put that in perspective. It's a go to strategy,

David Gallagher (08:24):
It's a go to strategy. I guess one thing I look about this bigger move, and you'd mentioned this in an earlier conversation, Farzana, about Trump maybe having some concern about his legacy, what lasts beyond his presidency. And that's nothing new. The Egyptian pharaohs did that with the pyramids too. So I think that that's kind of an understandable human reaction. Usually they wait to be dead or wait to have the building named for them. They don't do it themselves. But I think this is sort of true to his MO. He loves the visibility of these things. I think he likes trolling the libs like me who kind of overreact sometimes on social media in feeding the base. And I got to be honest, every one of these moves opens the door for what I think is kind of his main motivation. And that's gifts and contributions and contracts and a lot of revenue, some above board, some maybe not, get attached to these types of moves.

(09:23):
 So it's not surprising. Maybe it's just, to me, it's the depth and breadth of his move to rebrand everything.

Doug Downs (09:31):
So I'll take a slightly different angle at this. I do think it's legacy. He's going for legacy. He sees the light at the end of the tunnel, so to speak. You've got the mainstream media that's framing this as a growing exodus from the artists pulling out of the Kennedy Center. The institution itself is trying to flip the optics from artists taking a stand to artists boycotting the arts. The President Rick Gunnell saying, "You're boycotting the arts to prove you support the arts." And that's been his approach. He's labeling the cancellations as stunts and shifting the target to access and inclusion, saying that perhaps previously it was a more exclusive type of atmosphere at the Trump Kennedy Center. The other angle is the brand alignment for the artists. They're taking a principled stand, which I always really admire.

Farzana Baduel (10:26):
But yeah, there's also another play. It's not just about his name. It's about building a potential political dynasty as well. And just like in the Kennedys, you have different generations of politicians, no doubt a number of his children will be vying for position in the near future as well. And so I think it's fascinating actually, but it also does carry reputational risk because you're now beginning to see a lot of allegations that are being leveled at the Kennedy, the Trump Kennedy sort of Lincoln Center in terms of financial mismanagement ever since a Trump appointee has been chairing the board. So it could also backfire as well. So I think time will tell.

David Gallagher (11:09):
I thought if you would indulge me, I would zoom out a little bit and maybe move away from the headlines and just mention a conversation I had with a friend last week who is a producer. She's in the film and TV business and I didn't get her permission to quote her, so I won't mention her name here, but we were talking about the show Pluribus. And if you haven't watched it, you should. It's streaming on Apple. It's kind of a reverse apocalypse show, I guess you could call it. I don't want to give you any spoilers here, but it's a really pretty remarkable piece of drama. This spot isn't about the show. I just thought I would mention it in the context while we were talking about it because she was telling me how hard it is in a show like this with unpredictable plot twists.

(11:53):
 If you're in the episode, if you're a character in the episode, you really can't be aware or show that you're aware. You probably are not aware of what the bigger storylines are because you're so embedded in the scene in the episode. And forgive me if I'm stretching this metaphor, but it's made me think about us and our business. We get so embedded in the scene in the episode. I think sometimes it's easy to lose sight of bigger storylines, bigger arcs that are happening. Even when we talk about things like AI, I find us jumping to the question about, will it change the billable hour model? Well, maybe, but it's probably going to have bigger implications than that, maybe bigger than we can see in this scene or episode. And it might be interesting and worthwhile to think about that. So I thought I would just share three resources that I have found over the last week or so to be helpful in terms of thinking about bigger themes, bigger storylines.

(12:46):
 But the first thing I want to reference is the Substack newsletter, 7 Things. It's from our friend Adrian Monck. He's been on this show before. He writes very imaginatively on Threads. So he's experimenting with new platforms and more channels. And he speaks about corporate affairs and kind of macroeconomics. Similarly, there's a woman named Catherine Arrow. She's British, but based in New Zealand. She told me she listens to this show tomorrow over her coffee because it's too late for her. And she just produced a remarkable report. I just saw it yesterday called Divided On Purpose. And she also is looking at global risk for 2026. I'm a big fan of the World Economic Forum, which produces their global risk report probably in the next week or so. I think in some ways hers is even better. She takes it to a very personal, localized level on what you can do to think about and prepare yourself as communicators.

(13:41):
 So take a look at her Substack. Again, her name is Catherine Arrow, and you can download this report. And then I know we all love podcasts and our friends over at Communication Breakdown had a really good year end finale looking back on what I think will continue to be a conversation theme for us, but for PR people, and that's the impact of the Trump administration on corporate communications. And they take a pretty neutral view, looking at companies that went all in and positioned themselves as fully aligned with the Trump agenda, especially in the tech sector to those who were more cautiously neutral. They talked about the Coca Cola non denial about their new Koch product. And they looked at Harvard University, which has been more of an active vocal resistor to the Trump policies and just kind of lay out the pros and cons. But speaking of the new year, Doug, I know you have a special episode of Stories and Strategies.

(14:32):
 Anything you want to share with us? What's coming up?

Doug Downs (14:34):
Well, we do. All three of us do. Yes, you're right. David, you were a superstar in it. Farzana and I co hosted. Let's see. This one, Farzana and I go to the future to an unnamed city, but we travel 10 years into the future and meet up with this Gallagher fella who leads a complicated corporation that has figured out a lot of things in public relations. A, more gender equity at the leadership table, how AI really fits in and what the tools and techniques are, as well as entry level positions. So it's a somewhat semi utopian future that we travel to, and then we come back to the present day so we can start implementing these changes.

David Gallagher (15:19):
When does it? Remind me, when does it come out, Doug?

Doug Downs (15:21):
Tuesday morning for all, including cool. When you wake up in the UK, it'll be there if you subscribe on Apple or Spotify or YouTube.

David Gallagher (15:30):
Well, it was a lot of fun. Doug, I think we're just about out of time. You want to read us out?

Doug Downs (15:37):
Happy New Year to both of you. It's great to see you both in the new year. And Farzana, you're heading out my way in a week

Farzana Baduel (15:44):
Yes, I am. It's okay.

Doug Downs (15:46):
Bring that light sweater that I talked about

Farzana Baduel (15:47):
I will. Yeah.

Doug Downs (15:49):
Light gloves. Yeah. As always, thank you to superstar producer, Emily Page, who got up January 2nd. It's in the morning in the Toronto area. Em got up and ran the show. Em, thank you. Thank you, thank you, thank you. The Week Unspun is a co production of Folgate Advisors, Curzon Public Relations and Stories and Strategies Podcasts. You can catch the episodes on Apple, Spotify, our YouTube channels. We have a Stories and Strategies podcast YouTube channel, and the Curzon YouTube channel also carries the episodes as well. And a final thought. Don't be afraid to be silent. Silence is often self protection. It's okay when you need to. It's not evidence that you don't care, but speak up when you can. When you speak, one small truth allows others to love you more accurately. Have a great weekend.