Iran turns to internal crackdown in wake of 12-day war, World News
ISTANBUL/BAGHDAD — Iranian authorities are pivoting from a ceasefire with Israel to intensify an internal security crackdown across the country with mass arrests, executions and military deployments, particularly in the restive Kurdish region, officials and activists said.
Within days of Israel's airstrikes beginning on Friday (June 13), Iranian security forces started a campaign of widespread arrests accompanied by an intensified street presence based around checkpoints, the officials and activists said.
Some in Israel and exiled opposition groups had hoped the military campaign, which targeted Revolutionary Guards and internal security forces as well as nuclear sites, would spark a mass uprising and the overthrow of the Islamic Republic.
While Reuters has spoken to numerous Iranians angry at the government for policies they believed had led to the Israeli attack, there has been no sign yet of any significant protests against the authorities.
However, one senior Iranian security official and two other senior officials briefed on internal security issues said the authorities were focused on the threat of possible internal unrest, particularly in Kurdish areas.
Revolutionary Guard and Basij paramilitary units were put on alert and internal security was now the primary focus, said the senior security official.
The official said authorities were worried about Israeli agents, ethnic separatists and the People's Mujahideen Organisation, an exiled opposition group that has previously staged attacks inside Iran.
Activists within the country are lying low.
"We are being extremely cautious right now because there's a real concern the regime might use this situation as a pretext," said a rights activist in Tehran who was jailed during mass protests in 2022.
The activist said he knew dozens of people who had been summoned by authorities and either arrested or warned against any expressions of dissent.
Iranian rights group HRNA said on Monday it had recorded arrests of 705 people on political or security charges since the start of the war.
Many of those arrested have been accused of spying for Israel, HRNA said. Iranian state media reported three were executed on Tuesday in Urmia, near the Turkish border, and the Iranian-Kurdish rights group Hengaw said they were all Kurdish.
Iran's Foreign and Interior Ministries did not immediately respond to requests for comment. Checkpoints and searches
One of the officials briefed on security said troops had been deployed to the borders of Pakistan, Iraq and Azerbaijan to stop infiltration by what the official called terrorists. The other official briefed on security acknowledged that hundreds had been arrested.
Iran's mostly Sunni Muslim Kurdish and Baluch minorities have long been a source of opposition to the Islamic Republic, chafing against rule from the Persian-speaking, Shi'ite government in Tehran.
The three main Iranian Kurdish separatist factions based in Iraqi Kurdistan said some of their activists and fighters had been arrested and described widespread military and security movements by Iranian authorities.
Ribaz Khalili from the Democratic Party of Iranian Kurdistan (KDPI) said Revolutionary Guards units had deployed in schools in Iran's Kurdish provinces within three days of Israel's strikes beginning and gone house-to-house for suspects and arms.
The Guards had taken protective measures too, evacuating an industrial zone near their barracks and closing major roads for their own use in bringing reinforcements to Kermanshah and Sanandaj, two major cities in the Kurdish region.
A cadre from the Free Life Party of Kurdistan (PJAK), who gave her nom de guerre of Fatma Ahmed, said the party had counted more than 500 opposition members being detained in Kurdish provinces since the airstrikes began.
Ahmed and an official from the Kurdish Komala party, who spoke on condition of anonymity, both described checkpoints being set up across Kurdish areas with physical searches of people as well as checks of their phones and documents.
[[nid:719404]]
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
AsiaOne
23 minutes ago
- AsiaOne
South Korea police detain six Americans trying to send cash, rice to North Korea, Asia News
SEOUL — South Korean police have detained six US citizens who were attempting to deliver around 1,300 plastic bottles filled with rice, dollar notes and Bibles to North Korea, a police official said on Friday (June 27). The group had been trying to float the bottles by sea at a border island west of the capital Seoul near the isolated North before being spotted by a military patrol, the official at the Incheon Ganghwa Police Station told Reuters. The six are suspected of violating the country's disasters and safety act through their actions in an area recently designated as a "risk zone" which prohibits activities deemed harmful to residents, the official said. "We're investigating them through an interpreter and will decide after 48 hours whether to release them or not," the official said. Since taking office earlier in June, South Korean President Lee Jae Myung pledged to improve relations with neighbouring North Korea after a spike in tensions between the neighbours. Lee has suspended anti-North Korea loudspeaker broadcasts on the border and asked activists in the South launching helium balloons carrying leaflets criticising the authoritarian state's leaders to stop in a bid to prevent inflaming ties. Chung Dong-young, who has been nominated as South Korea's unification minister, said on Wednesday that the leaflet-laden balloons acted as "a catalyst for confrontation and hostilities" between the two Koreas, expressing hopes to rebuild communications with the North. The activists, often defectors who have fled North Korea and members of Christian groups, also sometimes try to send items such as Bibles and USB sticks loaded with South Korean TV dramas in plastic bottles by sea. North Korea has described the activists as "human scum" and retaliated last year by launching trash-filled balloons into the South and blaring anti-Seoul broadcasts along the border. Complaints by residents that the actions of activists put them at risk have led some border areas in South Korea including Ganghwa island to be designated "risk zones" since late last year, enabling authorities to step up monitoring of balloon launches and other anti-North Korea campaigns. [[nid:719263]]
AsiaOne
23 minutes ago
- AsiaOne
Battling to survive, Hamas faces defiant clans and doubts over Iran, World News
CAIRO/LONDON — Short of commanders, deprived of much of its tunnel network and unsure of support from its ally Iran, Hamas is battling to survive in Gaza in the face of rebellious local clans and relentless Israeli military pressure. Hamas fighters are operating autonomously under orders to hold out as long as possible but the Islamist group is struggling to maintain its grip as Israel openly backs tribes opposing it, three sources close to Hamas said. With a humanitarian crisis in Gaza intensifying international pressure for a ceasefire, Hamas badly needs a pause in the fighting, one of the people said. Not only would a ceasefire offer respite to weary Gazans, who are growing increasingly critical of Hamas, but it would also allow the Islamist group to crush rogue elements, including some clans and looters who have been stealing aid, the person said. To counter the immediate threat, Hamas has sent some of its top fighters to kill one rebellious leader, Yasser Abu Shabab, but so far he has remained beyond their reach in the Rafah area held by Israeli troops, according to two Hamas sources and two other sources familiar with the situation. Reuters spoke to 16 sources including people close to Hamas, Israeli security sources and diplomats who painted a picture of a severely weakened group, retaining some sway and operational capacity in Gaza despite its setbacks, but facing stiff challenges. Hamas is still capable of landing blows: it killed seven Israeli soldiers in an attack in southern Gaza on Tuesday (June 24). But three diplomats in the Middle East said intelligence assessments showed it had lost its centralised command and control and was reduced to limited, surprise attacks. An Israeli military official estimated Israel had killed 20,000 or more Hamas fighters and destroyed or rendered unusable hundreds of miles of tunnels under the coastal strip. Much of Gaza has been turned to rubble in 20 months of conflict. One Israeli security source said the average age of Hamas fighters was "getting lower by the day". Israeli security sources say Hamas is recruiting from hundreds of thousands of impoverished, unemployed, displaced young men. Hamas does not disclose how many of its fighters have died. "They're hiding because they are being instantly hit by planes but they appear here and there, organising queues in front of bakeries, protecting aid trucks, or punishing criminals," said Essam, 57 a construction worker in Gaza City. "They're not like before the war, but they exist." Asked for comment for this story, senior Hamas official Sami Abu Zuhri said the group was working for an agreement to end the war with Israel but "surrender is not an option". Hamas remained committed to negotiations and was "ready to release all prisoners at once", he said, referring to Israeli hostages, but it wanted the killing to stop and Israel to withdraw. 'It doesn't look good' Hamas is a shadow of the group that attacked Israel in 2023, killing 1,200 people and taking another 253 hostage, according to Israeli tallies. Israel's offensive has killed more than 56,000 people, according to Gaza health authorities. The damage inflicted by Israel is unlike anything Hamas has suffered since its creation, with most of its top military commanders in Gaza killed. Founded in 1987, Hamas had gradually established itself as the main rival of the Fatah faction led by President Mahmoud Abbas and finally seized Gaza from his control in 2007. With a US-brokered truce in the Iran-Israel war holding, attention has switched back to the possibility of a Gaza deal that might end the conflict and release the remaining hostages. One of the people close to Hamas told Reuters it would welcome a truce, even for a couple of months, to confront the local clans that are gaining influence. But he said Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's terms for ending the war — including Hamas leaders leaving Gaza — would amount to total defeat, and Hamas would never surrender. "We keep the faith, but in reality it doesn't look good," the source said. Yezid Sayigh, a senior fellow at the Carnegie Middle East Center in Beirut, said he believed Hamas was simply trying to survive. That was not just a physical challenge of holding out militarily, he said, but above all a political one. "They face being eliminated on the ground in Gaza if the war doesn't stop, but they also face being erased from any governing formula that ends the war in Gaza (if such a thing can be found)," he wrote in response to Reuters' questions. Palestinian tribes have emerged as part of Israel's strategy to counter Hamas. Netanyahu has said publicly that Israel has been arming clans that oppose Hamas, but has not said which. One of the most prominent challenges has come from Abu Shabab, a Palestinian Bedouin based in the Rafah area, which is under Israeli control. Hamas wants Abu Shabab captured, dead or alive, accusing him of collaboration with Israel and planning attacks on the Islamist group, three Hamas sources told Reuters. Abu Shabab controls eastern Rafah and his group is believed to have freedom of movement in the wider Rafah area. Images on their Facebook page show their armed men organising the entry of aid trucks from the Kerem Shalom crossing. Announcements by his group indicate that it is trying to build an independent administration in the area, though they deny trying to become a governing authority. The group has called on people from Rafah now in other areas of Gaza to return home, promising food and shelter. In response to Reuters' questions, Abu Shabab's group denied getting support from Israel or contacts with the Israeli army, describing itself as a popular force protecting humanitarian aid from looting by escorting aid trucks. It accused Hamas of violence and muzzling dissent. A Hamas security official said the Palestinian security services would "strike with an iron fist to uproot the gangs of the collaborator Yasser Abu Shabab", saying they would show no mercy or hesitation and accusing him of being part of "an effort to create chaos and lawlessness". Not all of Gaza's clans are at odds with Hamas, however. On Thursday, a tribal alliance said its men had protected aid trucks from looters in northern Gaza. Sources close to Hamas said the group had approved of the alliance's involvement. Israel said Hamas fighters had in fact commandeered the trucks, which both the clans and Hamas denied. Iran uncertainty Palestinian analyst Akram Attallah said the emergence of Abu Shabab was a result of the weakness of Hamas, though he expected him to fail ultimately because Palestinians broadly reject any hint of collaboration with Israel. Nevertheless, regardless of how small Abu Shabab's group is, the fact Hamas has an enemy from the same culture was dangerous, he said. "It remains a threat until it is dealt with." Israel's bombing campaign against Iran has added to the uncertainties facing Hamas. Tehran's backing for Hamas played a big part in developing its armed wing into a force capable of shooting missiles deep into Israel. While both Iran and Israel have claimed victory, Netanyahu on Sunday indicated the Israeli campaign against Tehran had further strengthened his hand in Gaza, saying it would "help us expedite our victory and the release of all our hostages". US President Donald Trump said on Wednesday that great progress was being made on Gaza, adding that the strike on Iran would help get the hostages released. A Palestinian official close to Hamas said the group was weighing the risk of diminished Iranian backing, anticipating "the impact will be on the shape of funding and the expertise Iran used to give to the resistance and Hamas". One target of Israel's campaign in Iran was a Revolutionary Guards officer who oversaw coordination with Hamas. Israel said Saeed Izadi, whose death it announced on Saturday, was the driving force behind the Iran-Hamas axis. Hamas extended condolences to Iran on Thursday, calling Izadi a friend who was directly responsible for ties with "the leadership of the Palestinian resistance". A source from an Iran-backed group in the region said Izadi helped develop Hamas capabilities, including how to carry out complex attacks, including rocket launches, infiltration operations, and drones. Asked about how the Israeli campaign against Iran might affect its support for Hamas, Abu Zuhri said Iran was a large and powerful country that would not be defeated. [[nid:719551]]
Straits Times
an hour ago
- Straits Times
Battling to survive, Hamas faces defiant clans and doubts over Iran
FILE PHOTO: Palestinian Hamas militants keep guard on the day Hamas hands over deceased hostages, identified at the time by Palestinian militant groups as Oded Lifschitz, Shiri Bibas and her two children Kfir and Ariel Bibas, seized during the deadly October 7, 2023 attack, to the Red Cross, as part of a ceasefire and hostages-prisoners swap deal between Hamas and Israel, in Khan Younis in the southern Gaza Strip February 20, 2025. REUTERS/Hatem Khaled/File Photo FILE PHOTO: Palestinians from clans hold guns and melee weapons to secure aid trucks in Beit Lahia, in the northern Gaza Strip, June 25, 2025. REUTERS/Dawoud Abu Alkas/File Photo FILE PHOTO: Hamas militants carry the coffin of Marwan Issa, a senior Hamas deputy military commander who was killed in an Israeli airstrike during the conflict between Israel and Hamas, amid a ceasefire between Israel and Hamas, in the central Gaza Strip, February 7, 2025. REUTERS/Ramadan Abed/File Photo FILE PHOTO: Hamas militants carry grenade launchers at the funeral of Marwan Issa, a senior Hamas deputy military commander who was killed in an Israeli airstrike during the conflict between Israel and Hamas, amid a ceasefire between Israel and Hamas, in the central Gaza Strip, February 7, 2025. REUTERS/Ramadan Abed/File Photo CAIRO/LONDON - Short of commanders, deprived of much of its tunnel network and unsure of support from its ally Iran, Hamas is battling to survive in Gaza in the face of rebellious local clans and relentless Israeli military pressure. Hamas fighters are operating autonomously under orders to hold out as long as possible but the Islamist group is struggling to maintain its grip as Israel openly backs tribes opposing it, three sources close to Hamas said. With a humanitarian crisis in Gaza intensifying international pressure for a ceasefire, Hamas badly needs a pause in the fighting, one of the people said. Not only would a ceasefire offer respite to weary Gazans, who are growing increasingly critical of Hamas, but it would also allow the Islamist group to crush rogue elements, including some clans and looters who have been stealing aid, the person said. To counter the immediate threat, Hamas has sent some of its top fighters to kill one rebellious leader, Yasser Abu Shabab, but so far he has remained beyond their reach in the Rafah area held by Israeli troops, according to two Hamas sources and two other sources familiar with the situation. Reuters spoke to 16 sources including people close to Hamas, Israeli security sources and diplomats who painted a picture of a severely weakened group, retaining some sway and operational capacity in Gaza despite its setbacks, but facing stiff challenges. Hamas is still capable of landing blows: it killed seven Israeli soldiers in an attack in southern Gaza on Tuesday. But three diplomats in the Middle East said intelligence assessments showed it had lost its centralised command and control and was reduced to limited, surprise attacks. An Israeli military official estimated Israel had killed 20,000 or more Hamas fighters and destroyed or rendered unusable hundreds of miles of tunnels under the coastal strip. Much of Gaza has been turned to rubble in 20 months of conflict. One Israeli security source said the average age of Hamas fighters was "getting lower by the day". Israeli security sources say Hamas is recruiting from hundreds of thousands of impoverished, unemployed, displaced young men. Hamas does not disclose how many of its fighters have died. "They're hiding because they are being instantly hit by planes but they appear here and there, organising queues in front of bakeries, protecting aid trucks, or punishing criminals," said Essam, 57 a construction worker in Gaza City. "They're not like before the war, but they exist." Asked for comment for this story, senior Hamas official Sami Abu Zuhri said the group was working for an agreement to end the war with Israel but "surrender is not an option". Hamas remained committed to negotiations and was "ready to release all prisoners at once", he said, referring to Israeli hostages, but it wanted the killing to stop and Israel to withdraw. 'IT DOESN'T LOOK GOOD' Hamas is a shadow of the group that attacked Israel in 2023, killing 1,200 people and taking another 253 hostage, according to Israeli tallies. Israel's offensive has killed more than 56,000 people, according to Gaza health authorities. The damage inflicted by Israel is unlike anything Hamas has suffered since its creation, with most of its top military commanders in Gaza killed. Founded in 1987, Hamas had gradually established itself as the main rival of the Fatah faction led by President Mahmoud Abbas and finally seized Gaza from his control in 2007. With a U.S.-brokered truce in the Iran-Israel war holding, attention has switched back to the possibility of a Gaza deal that might end the conflict and release the remaining hostages. One of the people close to Hamas told Reuters it would welcome a truce, even for a couple of months, to confront the local clans that are gaining influence. But he said Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's terms for ending the war - including Hamas leaders leaving Gaza - would amount to total defeat, and Hamas would never surrender. "We keep the faith, but in reality it doesn't look good," the source said. Yezid Sayigh, a senior fellow at the Carnegie Middle East Center in Beirut, said he believed Hamas was simply trying to survive. That was not just a physical challenge of holding out militarily, he said, but above all a political one. "They face being eliminated on the ground in Gaza if the war doesn't stop, but they also face being erased from any governing formula that ends the war in Gaza (if such a thing can be found)," he wrote in response to Reuters' questions. Palestinian tribes have emerged as part of Israel's strategy to counter Hamas. Netanyahu has said publicly that Israel has been arming clans that oppose Hamas, but has not said which. One of the most prominent challenges has come from Abu Shabab, a Palestinian Bedouin based in the Rafah area, which is under Israeli control. Hamas wants Abu Shabab captured, dead or alive, accusing him of collaboration with Israel and planning attacks on the Islamist group, three Hamas sources told Reuters. Abu Shabab controls eastern Rafah and his group is believed to have freedom of movement in the wider Rafah area. Images on their Facebook page show their armed men organising the entry of aid trucks from the Kerem Shalom crossing. Announcements by his group indicate that it is trying to build an independent administration in the area, though they deny trying to become a governing authority. The group has called on people from Rafah now in other areas of Gaza to return home, promising food and shelter. In response to Reuters' questions, Abu Shabab's group denied getting support from Israel or contacts with the Israeli army, describing itself as a popular force protecting humanitarian aid from looting by escorting aid trucks. It accused Hamas of violence and muzzling dissent. A Hamas security official said the Palestinian security services would "strike with an iron fist to uproot the gangs of the collaborator Yasser Abu Shabab", saying they would show no mercy or hesitation and accusing him of being part of "an effort to create chaos and lawlessness". Not all of Gaza's clans are at odds with Hamas, however. On Thursday, a tribal alliance said its men had protected aid trucks from looters in northern Gaza. Sources close to Hamas said the group had approved of the alliance's involvement. Israel said Hamas fighters had in fact commandeered the trucks, which both the clans and Hamas denied. IRAN UNCERTAINTY Palestinian analyst Akram Attallah said the emergence of Abu Shabab was a result of the weakness of Hamas, though he expected him to fail ultimately because Palestinians broadly reject any hint of collaboration with Israel. Nevertheless, regardless of how small Abu Shabab's group is, the fact Hamas has an enemy from the same culture was dangerous, he said. "It remains a threat until it is dealt with." Israel's bombing campaign against Iran has added to the uncertainties facing Hamas. Tehran's backing for Hamas played a big part in developing its armed wing into a force capable of shooting missiles deep into Israel. While both Iran and Israel have claimed victory, Netanyahu on Sunday indicated the Israeli campaign against Tehran had further strengthened his hand in Gaza, saying it would "help us expedite our victory and the release of all our hostages". U.S. President Donald Trump said on Wednesday that great progress was being made on Gaza, adding that the strike on Iran would help get the hostages released. A Palestinian official close to Hamas said the group was weighing the risk of diminished Iranian backing, anticipating "the impact will be on the shape of funding and the expertise Iran used to give to the resistance and Hamas". One target of Israel's campaign in Iran was a Revolutionary Guards officer who oversaw coordination with Hamas. Israel said Saeed Izadi, whose death it announced on Saturday, was the driving force behind the Iran-Hamas axis. Hamas extended condolences to Iran on Thursday, calling Izadi a friend who was directly responsible for ties with "the leadership of the Palestinian resistance". A source from an Iran-backed group in the region said Izadi helped develop Hamas capabilities, including how to carry out complex attacks, including rocket launches, infiltration operations, and drones. Asked about how the Israeli campaign against Iran might affect its support for Hamas, Abu Zuhri said Iran was a large and powerful country that would not be defeated. REUTERS Join ST's Telegram channel and get the latest breaking news delivered to you.
