Iran International
Iranian authorities have launched a sweeping wave of arrests and tightened domestic repression as US and Israeli strikes continue to hit military facilities and security institutions tied to the Islamic Republic.
Hundreds of people have been detained across the country over the past two weeks, according to information reviewed by Iran International and local reports. Many detainees’ identities, locations of detention and legal status remain unknown.
Arrests have been reported in multiple provinces including East and West Azarbaijan, Alborz, Isfahan, Tehran, Khuzestan, Kordestan, Kerman, Kohgiluyeh and Boyer-Ahmad, Gilan, Lorestan and Yazd. Authorities have accused detainees of offenses such as “disturbing public opinion,” “propaganda against the system,” “online activities,” “disrupting public security,” and “cooperation with hostile countries.”
State television and security-linked outlets have simultaneously broadcast forced confessions from some detainees, raising concerns among rights advocates that the statements could be used to justify prosecutions. Human rights organizations have repeatedly criticized the Islamic Republic for using televised confessions obtained under pressure as evidence in court proceedings.
Officials have accompanied the crackdown with increasingly explicit threats.
Ahmadreza Radan, commander of Iran’s police, said more than 80 people had been arrested for spreading “disturbing content” online. He added that thousands of others had received warning text messages over posts deemed to spread panic.
Radan also warned that police would respond forcefully to any street protests, saying officers would be “ready to pull the trigger” if demonstrations occur.
Meanwhile, state television aired a program in which a presenter threatened government opponents, saying authorities would eventually pursue them whether they were inside or outside the country.
Security agencies have also reported new arrests linked to alleged espionage. The Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps said six people were detained in Kordestan province and one individual was killed during an operation. The Guards-affiliated Fars website reported that intelligence forces arrested 50 people in Kohgiluyeh and Boyer-Ahmad province. The Intelligence Ministry said at least 30 others were detained on accusations of spying for the United States and Israel.
Authorities have also targeted those documenting the conflict. The ministry warned that filming or photographing strike locations could amount to acting as the “enemy’s fifth column.” Guards intelligence officials said some individuals who sent images of attacks to media outlets had already been arrested.
Internet disruptions have further limited the flow of information. The monitoring group NetBlocks reported that a nationwide internet blackout continues for hundreds of hours.
The group warned the shutdown posed a direct threat to civilians by restricting access to vital information. With communications cut in many areas, families of detainees say they often do not know where relatives are being held.
Threats have also extended beyond Iran’s borders. The office of Iran’s prosecutor general issued a statement warning Iranians abroad that assets could be seized and severe penalties imposed if authorities determine they have “cooperated with the enemy.”
The statement broadly defined such cooperation as providing intelligence or engaging in activities benefiting Israel, the United States or other “hostile states.” Officials said legal proceedings against such individuals had entered an “operational phase,” including asset identification and confiscation.
At the same time, reports have emerged of expanded security deployments in cities nationwide. Revolutionary Guards and Basij units have established checkpoints in urban areas, with citizens reporting aggressive searches of vehicles and mobile phones.
A resident of Tehran told Iran International that police at a checkpoint in Haft-e Tir Square forced him to unlock his phone and searched through his calls, photos and videos.
Another resident in Isfahan said Basij personnel threatened him and his family with weapons during an inspection at a busy city square. According to the witness, officers treated civilians as if they were the enemy.
Security checkpoints themselves have increasingly become targets in the ongoing conflict. Video circulating online shows drone strikes hitting Basij checkpoints and equipment in Tehran.
The Fars website reported that at least 10 Basij and security personnel stationed at checkpoints in the capital were killed in strikes on Wednesday evening. Additional attacks on similar positions have been reported in other cities.
The Israeli military later said its air force had targeted Basij checkpoints and personnel in Tehran, describing them as part of the Islamic Republic’s internal security apparatus used to suppress dissent.
Data from the US-based Armed Conflict Location & Event Data Project recorded at least 18 Israeli strikes on Basij checkpoints on Wednesday alone, most of them in Tehran.
The arrests and heightened street controls come as Iran’s prison system is already under severe strain following previous protest crackdowns that saw tens of thousands detained. Human rights groups say many prisons face overcrowding, poor sanitation and shortages of basic supplies.
At the same time, some detention facilities and intelligence buildings have reportedly been damaged in airstrikes, raising further uncertainty about where newly arrested individuals are being held.
With communication restrictions still in place and many detentions unacknowledged by authorities, families and rights advocates say concerns are growing about the fate of hundreds of people detained during one of the most volatile periods in Iran in years.
Speaking on Fox News Radio's The Brian Kilmeade Show, Trump said security forces loyal to the Islamic Republic routinely shoot demonstrators in the streets, making it difficult for unarmed civilians to challenge the regime despite growing pressure from the ongoing conflict.
“They literally have people in the streets with machine guns, machine-gunning people down if they want to protest,” Trump said, referring to Iran’s security forces. “That’s a pretty big hurdle to climb for people that don’t have weapons.”
Trump said that while change inside Iran will eventually happen, it is unlikely to occur quickly under such conditions.
“It’ll happen,” he said, “but it probably will be — maybe not immediately.”
The US president made the remarks while discussing the internal situation in Iran amid the escalating war between Iran, Israel and the United States. Trump argued that the regime maintains control largely through force, describing the security forces as an “evil group of people” who shoot protesters “right through the head.”
Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps warned on Thursday that opponents could face a blow “even stronger than January 8,” signaling the possibility of a renewed and harsher crackdown if street protests resume.
More than 36,500 Iranians were killed by security forces during a two-day crackdown on nationwide protests on January 8–9.
Trump said the presence of armed units on the streets makes it extremely difficult for ordinary Iranians to take action against the government.
“You’re talking about people that go out shooting protesters,” he said. “So when someone says go out and protest, that’s a pretty high standard.”
The comments came after Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu announced that the current conflict will create conditions for political change inside Iran.
Trump said continued military pressure on Iran's regime could weaken the authorities over time.
“They’re going to be in worse shape as time goes by,” Trump said, adding that US and Israeli strikes have severely damaged Iran’s military capabilities.
The warning came from the intelligence organization of the Revolutionary Guards, which said street unrest would be treated as a precursor to military action. “Those we call the ‘Neo-ISIS elements’ should know that a blow even harsher than that of January 8 awaits them,” the statement said.
More than 36,500 Iranians were killed by security forces during a two-day crackdown on nationwide protests on January 8–9. Iran International confirmed the death toll after examining obtained classified documents along with field reports and accounts from medical staff, witnesses, and victims’ families.
In its statement, the Guards accused foreign adversaries of trying to stir unrest inside Iran after failing to achieve their goals on the battlefield. It said enemies were now attempting to “spread fear and provoke street protests.”
The warning came as Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Israel’s military campaign was intended in part to create conditions that could allow Iranians to protest against the Islamic Republic.
“We will create optimal conditions to do this, including airstrikes as we did yesterday, as we are doing these days, to try to give them the space needed to take to the streets,” Netanyahu said at a press conference on Thursday.
He said Israeli strikes were delivering “crushing blows” to the Revolutionary Guards and the Basij, the paramilitary force often deployed against protesters, but added that any effort to bring down the Islamic Republic would ultimately depend on action from within Iran.
For days the conflict had focused largely on military bases, missile sites and command facilities, particularly in southern Iran, as part of the wider US-Israeli campaign that has struck thousands of targets across the country since the war began on February 28.
But since Wednesday evening, reported drone strikes on checkpoints in Tehran have pointed to a parallel line of pressure: the local security posts, patrol units and temporary deployments used to enforce control on the streets.
Iranian state-linked media said several checkpoints in Tehran were hit, killing members of the security forces and Basij militia. The reported locations included positions in multiple districts across the capital.
The development suggests the conflict is increasingly intersecting with the structures the state relies on to control neighborhoods rather than only its larger military infrastructure.
From fixed bases to moving checkpoints
Since the start of the war, residents across Iran say checkpoints and patrols have multiplied in major cities as authorities attempt to prevent unrest and maintain control.
At the same time, Iran International has received a steady stream of messages from viewers describing the locations of checkpoints, security deployments and temporary bases.
Some reports describe armed units inspecting vehicles at major highway entrances or intersections. Others mention security forces using schools, sports halls and religious institutions as temporary accommodation or staging points.
Messages received in recent days pointed to deployments in locations ranging from major Tehran highways to entrances to cities such as Karaj, Shiraz, Mashhad and Qazvin. Residents also described units stationed beneath highway bridges, near parks or inside parking areas where buses and motorcycles were parked overnight.
In several cases, viewers reported that checkpoints they had previously seen disappeared within hours or days, while others appeared to move to nearby streets or disperse into smaller patrol groups.
Some messages described security forces sleeping inside buses or personal vehicles and conducting mobile patrols rather than remaining in fixed positions.
Others said checkpoints that had been inspecting vehicles were suddenly dismantled, leaving only a few officers nearby.
Such reports cannot be independently verified in each case. But taken together they suggest that many deployments are becoming more fluid, with positions shifting frequently rather than remaining in one place.
A war over control of the neighborhood
The shift reflects a deeper pressure on the state’s local enforcement network.
For years the Islamic Republic has relied on a dense web of Basij, police and Revolutionary Guards positions to control neighborhoods and quickly suppress unrest.
During the recent nationwide protests earlier this year, these same networks formed the backbone of the crackdown that sealed off districts and quashed the demonstrations.
In wartime, those local security units appear to be playing an even more central role.
As larger bases and installations come under pressure from airstrikes, authorities appear to be relying more heavily on mobile checkpoints and temporary deployments to maintain control on the ground.
Now those fallback positions are also being drawn into the conflict.
The result is a battlefield that increasingly overlaps with everyday urban space. Instead of remaining confined to distant military facilities, the war is beginning to touch the street corners, highway entrances and neighborhood patrol routes where the state exerts day-to-day authority.
Players who arrived on Wednesday are being kept at a hotel where journalists and media are not allowed to enter, according to sources familiar with the situation.
Some players had their mobile phones confiscated, while others were allowed to keep them only under the supervision of security personnel from the Iranian football federation.
Sources told Iran International that pressure on the players began in Tehran and has continued during the team’s camp ahead of the 2026 Asian Championship.
Mohammad Rahman Salari, a member of the Iranian Football Federation’s board, played a central role in enforcing the restrictions and repeatedly collected and inspected the phones of players and staff after the team’s first match.
Fatemeh Bodaghi, who is traveling with the delegation as manager of Iran’s women’s national team, was described by sources as acting on behalf of the federation’s security apparatus under the leadership of federation president Mehdi Taj, monitoring players’ social media accounts and reporting their activities to authorities in Tehran.
Sources also said Zeinab Hosseinzadeh, the team’s physiotherapist, was among those involved in exerting pressure on players.
Farideh Shojaei, the women’s vice president of the football federation, is also accompanying the team. She previously said options for the team’s return to Iran amid US-Israeli airstrikes were being examined, including a possible land route through Turkey, after attempts to return via the United Arab Emirates did not succeed.
Players face pressure after anthem protest
The crisis surrounding the Iranian women’s national football team began on March 2, when the squad refused to sing the Iranian national anthem before their opening match against South Korea at the AFC Women's Asian Cup in Australia.
This silent protest, occurring shortly after the start of the Iran war and the killing of Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei, was immediately labeled an act of "wartime treason" by the state media. As the team progressed through the group stage, they were reportedly kept under strict surveillance by delegation minders, with international human rights groups and political figures warning that the athletes faced severe punishment, including the possibility of the death penalty, if they were forced to return to Tehran.
Six members of the delegation accepted humanitarian visas and remained in Australia to seek asylum, while the rest of the team boarded their flight to Malaysia.
