Checkpoints expand as citizens report drones and strikes in several cities

Reports from citizens across Iran on Sunday indicate increased security deployments, widespread checkpoints and new signs of military activity in several cities.

In Rasht, northern Gilan province, residents said plainclothes security agents were seen on March 14 moving through neighborhoods carrying devices larger than mobile phones, apparently searching for Starlink satellite internet signals.

Witnesses also reported nightly IRGC checkpoints from 10 p.m. on the Rasht–Astaneh highway, about one kilometer before the Astaneh bypass.

In Bandar Abbas, multiple checkpoints have been set up across the city. According to residents, roughly six out of every ten vehicles passing through the checkpoints are stopped and inspected.

Residents in Shahriar, west of Tehran, reported seeing Israeli drones flying over the Shahid residential district at around 6:25 a.m., drawing attention from locals.

In Isfahan, witnesses said several locations across the city were struck between 6:00 and 6:30 a.m. Residents reported more than 15 missile impacts and said fighter jets were heard flying lower than usual. According to those accounts, air defense systems did not appear to be active at the time.

In the coastal area of Bandar Javad al-Aemmeh, southern Hormozgan province, residents reported that an IRGC base operates with an underground tunnel from which missiles are launched at night. They also said monitoring posts and towers have been installed on the nearby Shahin-Kuh heights.

In Parsian, in Hormozgan province, residents said police had set up a new checkpoint booth labeled as a “hospital,” where vehicles are being stopped and searched.