Iran tightens security grip at home as war conditions with US linger

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Over the last weeks, security forces and religious morality police have intensified restrictions, arrests, and punishments for people and businesses deemed noncompliant with a wide range of regulations on practices deemed by the state as immoral and un-Islamic. In their attempts to strengthen the ”internal front and unity”, numerous clerical, political and military-security officials have emphasised the need to “stand united” in the face of foreign aggression, while also showing declining tolerance for anything perceived as dissent or non-compliance. The morality police is also enforcing compulsory hijab, business closures, and pressure on students, lawyers and others. Along with war and economic malaise, the country is still overshadowed by the anti-establishment nationwide protests in January, during which thousands were killed and many more were arrested and executed. President Masoud Pezeshkian called the events “bitter and unforgettable” during a televised interview released on Wednesday night. During the protests, Pezeshkian accused US President Donald Trump and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu of orchestrating protests across multiple Iranian cities to destabilise the Islamic Republic. The state’s security apparatus has combined executions with arrests, asset seizures, internet and media controls. It has also kept heavily armed security forces and pro-establishment voices on the streets of Tehran and other cities at night to maintain pro-state messaging and presence. Iranian authorities have designated the January protests – the latest of several nationwide demonstrations in recent years – a “coup” attempt orchestrated by the US and Israel. They have said armed agents of spy agencies CIA and Mossad were posing among protesters to ramp up violence, attack government offices and damage public property. Former officials like ex-Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said in a social media post that “Mossad agents” were involved in the protests. The government says 3,117 people were killed, mostly on the nights of January 8 and 9, and refutes higher figures raised by rights groups and US officials. In Isfahan’s Alikhani Square, where people had protested in January, two young men were publicly hanged by the authorities on July 28 from a crane and scaffolding erected amid a heavy security presence. Their charges included moharebeh or “waging war against God”, and “corruption on Earth” linked with alleged involvement in arson and the deaths of several security personnel during the nationwide unrest. Families and residents tried to interrupt the public execution but were forcibly dispersed, with videos circulating on social media appearing to show shots being fired. The judiciary denied reports that anyone was killed. Two more young men have already been executed in the same case, with US-based Human Rights Activists News Agency saying a third has so far avoided being hanged after suffering a stroke hours before execution, but remains at risk. Overall, eight people still face execution in this 16-defendant Isfahan case alone. Similar cases are ongoing in the same province and others across Iran, most of which go unreported by the authorities. On Wednesday, United Nations human rights chief Volker Turk said in a statement that at least 56 people have been executed on national security-related charges since March 19, including 27 in cases linked to the nationwide protests in January. Turk added that more than 100 people face the risk of execution on similar charges. Iranian authorities argue that the executions are necessary to deter any acts perceived as going against national security, as the US and Israel look to overthrow the Islamic Republic. The authorities have presented the executions as retribution for killings of security personnel, arson and destruction during the protests. Judiciary chief Gholam-Hossein Mohseni-Ejei has emphasised that speed is of the essence in handing out sentences, saying in January that “timely and undelayed implementation of punishments for rioters is one of the elements of deterrence.” The UN and international human rights organisations have called for a halt to the executions, which, according to the Oslo-based Iran Human Rights (IHR) nongovernmental organisation, increased by 68 percent to more than 1,600 people executed in 2025. That was the highest since 1989, shortly after the eight-year Iran-Iraq War, when a large number of dissidents were executed. In addition to national security, the offences range from murder to drugs, rape and blasphemy. Rights groups have said the Islamic revolutionary courts in Iran, which deal with security-related cases, hold hearings behind closed doors while defendants are subjected to abuses and families are pressured to remain silent and refrain from speaking to the media. “As national laws currently stand, it is impossible to take part in any protest critical of the State without risking reprisals and persecution,” seven international UN experts and special rapporteurs said in a statement last week. “This cycle will only be broken when civic space opens up and freedom of peaceful assembly and expression is guaranteed,” they said. “The rationale appears clear: Instil fear across society, deter future demonstrations, and silence dissent. Yet repression only breeds further dissent.” Iranian military and security officials have previously warned that protests during war would help the enemies of the state. Faced with increasing expressions of opposition to the executions and other security measures, the Tehran prosecutor’s office last week opened cases against unspecified online users accused of supporting those who were executed over the protests. State television presenter Mohsen Azadi denounced and insulted former Deputy Culture Minister Nadereh Rezaei after she posted a message online arguing that execution sows hatred. The authorities and state-linked media use words like “terrorists” and “rioters” for many of the tens of thousands arrested during the January protests for allegedly serving US and Israeli interests. Hamidreza Moghaddamfar, a senior media adviser to the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC), in January described the protests on state television as a carefully prepared US-Israeli “cognitive war” that aimed to deliberately maximise casualties to trigger a US military intervention. “In addition to the main elements of dissent, parts of the field belonged to emotions-driven youth whose actions, even if unintentionally, amounted to treason,” he said about the street protests, also blaming celebrities or businesspeople who supported protesters online. Raising security concerns, the authorities also shut down the global internet for three weeks during the protests, and then for three months at the start of the current war on February 28. Some connectivity has been restored since, but the internet is slow, and most global messaging services and websites remain blocked by the state. In recent weeks, dozens of businesses and venues, as well as online pages and shops, have been shuttered by the authorities. Some were told they were not adhering to “Islamic norms”, meaning that they or their customers were not observing a compulsory dress code involving head covering and unrevealing clothing that has been imposed by law since shortly after the country’s 1979 revolution. State media maintained that other cases were linked with guild violations or “social security promotion”. In Tehran’s central Sanaei area, popular cafes where young men and women gathered in large numbers were temporarily forced shut in recent weeks. Cafes and restaurants have also been closed by authorities in Mashhad, Isfahan, Yazd, Rasht and other cities, despite the fact that the country is dealing with an exacerbating economic crisis brought on by a mix of local mismanagement and corruption, years of harsh US sanctions, two wars and naval blockades. Opposition groups say many bookstores in Tehran and the northern city of Babol were sealed by judicial order over the past week, while private cultural centres organising art and music events were suspended and had their Instagram pages shut down. Several gyms were also closed, including one in Bandar Anzali, for mixed-gender attendance and alleged promotion of “Western culture”. According to local media and international rights groups, a large number of students, teachers, actors, writers, lawyers and minorities have also been targeted by state controls over recent weeks and months. The Shargh reformist newspaper reported that a number of dissident students were doxxed after anonymous Telegram channels allegedly published their identity information, addresses and family phone numbers. The Coordinating Council of Iranian Teachers’ Trade Associations, among a few grassroots organisations still operating inside Iran, said a number of students were summoned or arrested based on security-related charges. Last week, prominent actor Reza Kianian reposted an Instagram story shared by thousands in opposition to the January protest killings and the ongoing executions. “I cannot pretend that everything is normal. Our shared pain must not get lost amid the bustle of everyday life,” the message said. 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