WSJ: Iran Cracking Down on Dissent

quote:

---

But Iranians say security forces are using fear to keep a tight grip on the streets. Armed men ride around on motorcycles brandishing their weapons to intimidate people, residents say, particularly at night, when city dwellers rarely leave their homes.

The men, usually in plainclothes and with their faces covered, also have set up a network of security checkpoints around cities such as Tehran where they routinely stop and search cars.

At least 500 people have been arrested since the start of the war, facing accusations that include sharing information with international media or with enemy forces with the purpose of helping them identify targets, Ahmad-Reza Radan, the commander of Iran’s police force, said Sunday on state television.

Many were detained for taking photos or videos of sites hit by airstrikes. Others were accused of being monarchists, a reference to supporters of Reza Pahlavi, the exiled son of Iran’s last shah, the most prominent opposition leader abroad. State-run media said 11 suspected monarchists resisted police and were killed.

Among those detained were a mother and her teenage son who are accused of celebrating the killing of Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, according to Human Rights Activists in Iran, a U.S.-based group that monitors the country....

The crackdown reflects the pressure of a joint U.S.-Israeli air campaign that has repeatedly struck Iran’s internal security forces since the start of the war. The attacks are aimed at creating the conditions for an uprising that could topple the government.

While the government has sent terrified protesters into hiding and faces no overt domestic challenge to its rule, it is showing signs of stress under the bombardment.

Israeli forces have targeted the new checkpoints set up by the internal security forces. Four were hit in various parts of Tehran on March 11 alone, killing 10 Basij militants and other armed forces, according to the semiofficial Fars News Agency.

Regular police have all but disappeared from the streets of Tehran, adding to a sense of general insecurity, residents said. But the security forces are working to make their presence felt on the ground and over the airwaves....

Security officials are threatening would-be protesters in television broadcasts and through text messages, saying there is a shoot-to-kill order in place. The Revolutionary Guard over the weekend sent a text message to mobile-phone users, a copy of which was viewed by The Wall Street Journal, warning rioters that they would face “a stronger blow than January 8”—a direct reference to the recent mass killings of antigovernment protesters that ended widespread unrest at the beginning of the year.

Members of the Revolutionary Guard and of the plainclothes Basij militants were the main perpetrators of the violence, with nearly 7,000 demonstrators confirmed killed, according to Human Rights Activists in Iran.

A near-total internet blackout, introduced when the war started, is still in place, making it difficult for people to stay informed and communicate, let alone mobilize. Internet connectivity has been further restricted since Sunday, according to NetBlocks, an independent organization that tracks internet flows.

Iranian authorities are hunting down users and suppliers of illegal Starlink terminals, which are used by Iranians to bypass the official restrictions. Police last week arrested a 37-year-old man accused of running an illegal Starlink sales network, according to the semiofficial Mehr News Agency.

Select pro-government users have long been allowed unfiltered internet access thanks to so-called white SIM cards. Fatemeh Mohajerani, a government spokeswoman, said last week an exception was made to allow internet access “for those who can amplify the country’s voice to the world.”

The heavy security presence, the continued bombing and the prospect of renewed violence by the Revolutionary Guard and the Basij, mean that many Tehran residents are too scared to leave their homes, let alone to rise up against the government.

One civil-society activist in the city said the masked men controlling the streets clearly aren’t there to protect them. “That makes them scarier,” the person said.

---