As US and Israeli strikes on Iranian military centers continue, Iran's police chief has threatened to treat street protesters as enemies, warning that his forces have their fingers on the trigger. The state has also arrested 81 individuals for online posts as the IRGC sets up checkpoints.
As heavy United States and Israeli attacks on the Islamic Republic's military and security centers continue, Iranian authorities are signaling a severe preemptive crackdown on domestic dissent. According to Iran International, a foreign-based news network known for its staunch opposition to the Iranian government, Ahmadreza Radan, the Chief Commander of the Law Enforcement Command, has issued dire warnings regarding any upcoming street protests.
DW Persian, the Farsi-language service of Germany's public broadcaster which frequently highlights human rights abuses in Iran, detailed Radan's threats made during a television news broadcast. Radan warned citizens that if they take to the streets, law enforcement officers are "ready with their fingers on the trigger." Framing domestic dissent as acts of war, Radan stated: "If anyone comes [to the streets] at the enemy's behest, we don't see them as protesters and so on. We see them as enemies and deal with them as we deal with an enemy. All our guys are ready with their fingers on the trigger."In addition to threatening lethal force against physical protests, the government is aggressively policing digital spaces. DW Persian notes that Radan announced the arrest of 81 individuals accused of publishing disturbing content in cyberspace. Without specifying where these arrests occurred, the police chief claimed the suspects had sent materials to foreign media outlets and confirmed that judicial cases have been opened against them.
The verbal threats coincide with an escalating militarization of Iranian cities. According to DW Persian, numerous citizen reports on social media over the past few days describe a massive deployment of government forces on the streets, accompanied by the establishment of checkpoints by the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) and Basij militia forces.
Both sources are Western-based, Farsi-language media networks with editorial stances highly critical of the Islamic Republic. Their reporting synthesizes official Iranian state broadcasts (such as Radan's television interview) with citizen journalism regarding street-level militarization. The translation strictly preserves the hostile framing and terminology used by Iranian authorities to describe protesters and dissent.