
Neighbour spying on neighbour, execution sprees & ‘telecom cages': How Iran is cracking down on critics after 12-day war
Panicked mullahs have also ordered "telecom cages" be installed around prisons as the regime wages war against its own people.
5
5
Political prisoners - largely banished to death row on trumped-up charges - have been subject to extreme torture and a disturbing rate of executions in the face of growing tensions in the Middle East.
Insiders say their treatment is being weaponised to deter opposition.
The fight against repression has loomed large for decades in the rogue state - but the so-called 12-day war last month has made the barbaric Ayatollah more fearful than ever of being toppled.
Ambassador Mark D. Wallace, CEO and Founder of United Against Nuclear Iran, said the Ayatollah is "on his heels" and is "engaging in a purification campaign".
He told The Sun: "The Ayatollah is incredibly weak and I think what he's doing is out of fear that his regime is going to collapse.
"He's looking around, most of his generals have been killed. Those that are alive, he is probably suspicious that they are spies.
"There's no clear succession, and I think the Ayatollah is on his heels.
"He's doing everything he can to try to find some sort of path to a succession, and the continuation of this revolutionary regime."
With Ali Khamenei's grip weakened by the unprecedented Israeli and US blitz, the incapacitated supreme leader has discharged fresh hell on his own people in a corrupt bid to stifle uprising.
Sources inside Iran told The Sun how a direct alert has been issued to the public, urging them to report any activity linked to resistance groups of the People's Mojahedin Organisation of Iran (PMOI/MEK).
Iran's supreme leader the Ayatollah, 86, breaks cover with first appearance since Trump ordered Israel not to kill him
Regime loyalists have been implored to act as informants - compiling detailed reports with photos, times, locations, licence plates and facial features of suspected individuals.
Orders were publicised in an official government news outlet - marking a distinct shift in the paranoid regime's usual strategy of covert suppression.
Insiders noted it points to the regime's growing perceived threat posed by the PMOI's grassroots operations.
The PMOI has long fought for a secular, democratic Iran, and is understood to be gaining traction amid frustration with economic hardship, political repression, and international isolation.
Iranians have lived under the iron-fist rule of fanatics ever since the revolution in 1979 saw the country transformed into an Islamic republic.
The close-knit cadres have attempted to thwart opposition by any means necessary for 46 years - but now lie incredibly vulnerable.
Anxious mullahs forced a complete shutdown of internet access in government offices during the conflict last month to take full control of information flow.
Iran regime massacres inmates
by Katie Davis, Chief Foreign Reporter (Digital)
IRAN'S ruthless regime massacred defenceless inmates at a prison before blaming their deaths on shrapnel from airstrikes, insiders revealed.
Cold-blooded regime dictators have also ordered the arrest of hundreds after accusing them of having links to arch-foe Israel.
As Israeli missiles rained down on a nearby military site on June 16, panicked inmates at Dizel-Abad Prison in Kermanshah begged to be moved to safety.
But they were instead met with a hail of bullets from the regime's merciless enforcers in a "deliberate and cold-blooded act", a witness said.
The source from within the prison said: "The prisoners insisted they be moved from areas where windows had shattered and where they feared further missile strikes.
"The regime's answer was bullets.
"The special forces opened fire directly at unarmed, defenseless inmates who were merely trying to flee a danger zone."
Insiders said the prisoners faced live ammunition after guards began beating inmates when they tried to breach internal doors in a bid to get to safety.
At least ten people were killed and a further 30 injured.
Regime authorities are now said to be attempting to cover up the deaths.
One source said: "Officials are planning to falsely attribute the deaths to shrapnel from the airstrike, not their own gunfire."
READ MORE HERE
Universities were mandated to create "war monitoring rooms" on every campus - which continue to put the personal social media activity of professors and students under surveillance.
Meanwhile, the Supreme National Security Council is installing "telecom cages" at prisons around the state to sever any external communications inmates have.
Jamming devices have been deployed to disrupt messages and calls being made - preventing any contact with the outside world.
It comes as execution numbers have spiralled in recent weeks - with 424 recorded since March 21, according to figures from the National Council of Resistance of Iran (NCRI).
In just three days during the conflict between Israel and Iran, 17 prisoners - including one woman - were executed.
One source said: "This surge is a deliberate tactic to instill fear and crush resistance."
5
5
Wallace, who served as the US ambassador to the United Nations, said the regime has ramped up its "vicious clampdown" to prevent "people pouring out in opposition in the streets".
The ex-diplomat added: "You see real Iranians suffering every day in those streets, and we cannot forget about them.
"The only path ultimately for the regime to fall is solely in the control of the Iranian people.
"Sadly, the Iranian people will suffer, and many will likely have to die for that to happen, and they're being persecuted as we speak today.
"I'm sure there are people being imprisoned and likely will meet their death because of the crackdown of that state security apparatus.
"It's really essential that we do not forget the people of Iran that are the victims of this regime."
The NCRI has warned how four political prisoners are facing severe torture as regime enforcers try to extract forced confessions to try and link them to the deaths of two notorious regime judges.
Plight of four prisoners
FOUR political prisoners are being subjected to prologner interrogation and torture in efforts to extarct fabricated confessions, insiders say.
NCRI sources say the regime is trying to link Arghavan Fallahi, Bijan Kazemi, and Mohammad and Amirhossein Akbari Monfared, to the deaths of regime executioners Moghiseh and Razini.
Fallahi, 25, was arrested at her home in Tehran on January 25, and was taken to Ward 241 of Evin Prison.
She spent 25 months in solitary confinement and after the prison was evacuated last month she was moved to solitary confinement in Fashafouyeh (Greater Tehran Prison).
Fallahi was previously arrested in November 2022 along with her father, Nasrollah Fallahi, a political prisoner from the 1980s, and was later released.
Nasrollah, who is serving a five-year prison sentence, is now being held in Fashafouyeh Prison.
Kazemi, meanwhile, was arrested by intelligence agents in Kuhdasht on January 20 and was put in solitary confinement in Ward 209 of Evin Prison before being moved to Fashafouyeh.
Interrogators claim Kazemi, 44, provided weapons to the assailants of Razini and Moghiseh.
Kazemi was arrested before in March 2020 and imprisoned for over two years in Khorramabad Prison.
He was released but was fitted with an ankle monitor for more than a year for surveillance.
Amirhossein, 22, was detained on January 19 - a day after Razini and Moghiseh were killed.
He was taken to Ward 209 of Evin Prison and has been subjected to severe torture, insiders say.
Two days later, intelligence agents raided his home again and arrested his father Mohammad.
Mohammad was previously a political prisoners in the 1980s, and was also arrested during the 2022 uprising.
Four members of their family were executed in the 1980s - PMOI members Alireza, Gholamreza, Abdolreza, and Roghieh Akbari Monfared.
Their sister, Maryam Akbari Monfared, is serving her sixteenth year in prison for seeking justice for her siblings.
Arghavan Fallahi, Bijan Kazemi, and father and son Mohammad and Amirhossein Akbari Monfared have been subjected to prolonged interrogation and could face the death penalty.
Despite this, defiant campaigners have continued their "No to Execution Tuesdays" movement - uniting activists and the families of inmates.
Zolal Habibi, of the NCRI's Foreign Affairs Committee, told The Sun: "Even in the midst of war, the clerical regime in Iran has not paused its machinery of executions and repression for a single day.
"This chilling reality underscores a deeper truth: the primary war in Iran is not external, but internal — a war between the Iranian people and their organised resistance on one side, and the ruling religious dictatorship on the other.
"Yet amid this brutality, the resilience of the Iranian people shines through.
"Last Tuesday, political prisoners across 47 prisons -the most tightly controlled spaces in the country - continued their campaign against the death penalty for the 74th consecutive week.
"Their defiance is a source of pride for every Iranian who dreams of freedom."
Hashtags

Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles


The Sun
27 minutes ago
- The Sun
West will have to defeat ENTIRE Axis of Evil if they want to end Putin's reign of terror, warns top US ex-general
WESTERN nations must change their attitude to Russia and crush the war machine fuelling Vladimir Putin's aggression, an ex-army commander warns. Rogue states such as Iran supply the tyrant with missiles and drones to unleash hell on Ukraine - propping up Russia 's "not so great" army, US General Ben Hodges told The Sun. 6 6 6 Now retired, he told The Sun: "If you want to defeat somebody, you have to knock out whatever it is that keeps the other side in the fight." He warned that if the West fails to take the threat from bloodthirsty Vlad more seriously, Europe will be dealing with war "forever". Russia has continued to rain down misery on Ukraine for more than three years - raising questions over how Moscow hasn't depleted its ammunition stocks. It comes as Putin is hammering Ukraine with almost 1,000 kamikaze drones a missiles each day - overwhelming defence systems. Dozens of innocents are being injured or killed as apartment buildings are mercilessly bombed and civilians terrorised. Putin ordered his troops over the border in February 2022 and the US military estimated that, without help, Moscow would have run out of firepower by that December. North Korea is widely believed to have supplied Russia with missiles and shells, while Iran has bolstered Putin's stockpile with drones and rockets. China - Moscow 's biggest and richest ally - is suspected of equipping Vlad with "dual-use" components, which are used to make weapons. Hodges, who was in charge of American forces in Europe, has urged the West to go after ??????????? He also believes Putin focuses on civilian areas instead of military targets because "the great Russian army and the great Russian air force and the great Russian navy are not so great". Bloodthirsty Putin hits Ukraine with almost 1,000 missiles a DAY as he faces his biggest dilemma yet "I mean they have demonstrated after 11 years they cannot defeat Ukraine," Hodges added. "The only thing they can do is murder innocent people. So that's what they're doing. "Hundreds of drones and missiles and rockets every week, which they get from Iran, North Korea and China, because they can't even produce all that they need anymore. "So I think we know from history that going after the population almost never works. "It didn't work in the Second World War, it didn't work for us against the Vietnamese, it didn't work for us against the Taliban." Putin arrogantly assumed he could sweep in and seize Kyiv in a matter of days after ordering his troops over the border into Ukraine. But more than three years on, the red-faced despot has suffered huge losses on the battlefield. 6 6 6 More than 10,000 tanks, 22,000 armoured vehicles, 26,000 artillery systems, and over 700 aircraft have been destroyed, officials estimate. And the casualty numbers are far grimmer. Western officials have revealed that the Russians have sustained more than 900,000 casualties, with 250,000 dead, since Putin unleashed his illegal war. Despite this, the megalomaniac has pushed forward - continuing to throw wave after wave of troops into the meatgrinder. Putin has found his stocks of weapons backfilled by his allies - such as receiving drones from Iran. And meanwhile, Kim has sent tens of thousands of troops to Russia to serve alongside Vlad's men. A small number of Chinese troops have also allegedly been found serving in Ukraine. But Beijing has strongly denied accusations from Ukraine that they supplying Putin with weapons. Russia now is planning to try and unleash 1,000 drones per day on Ukraine as the war marches on - much to the fury of the US. Hodges warned Western nations must instead focus on eliminating the threat from Axis of Evil countries - ultimately diminishing Putin's capabilities. The former military chief said it could see Europe grappling with endless bloodshed if not. He said: "Europe should be more serious and try to crush them, crush that regime, use all of our economic tools and also help Ukraine be successful to defeat Russia. "The only way Russia ever changes is after defeat. And if they're not defeated, then after Putin will be another Putin. "So we're going to be dealing with this forever unless we get serious about defending everything that we say is important. "And we should quit being so scared of what the Russians might do. The Russians should be worrying what the hell we're going to do." Axis of Evil 'supplying Russia with weapons' Iran Iran last year transferred close-range ballistic missiles to Russia in a move condemned by the UK's government and allies. Foreign Secretary David Lammy said: "Iran supplying Russia with ballistic missiles to fuel its illegal invasion of Ukraine is a significant and dangerous escalation." Initial claims of Iranian weapons being sent to Russia emerged in late 2022. US military intelligence at the time indicated Tehran was preparing to supply Fateh-110 and Zolfaghar rockets to Moscow. Russia's defence minister Sergei Shoigu visited Iran in September 2023 - and reviewed Tehran's missile arsenal during the trip. North Korea Kim Jong-un vowed to "support" Putin's "sacred fight" to defend Russia's security interests when the North Korean tyrant visited Moscow in 2023 He vowed the two countries would "be together in the fight against imperialism". North Korea has been accused of supplying missiles and shells to Moscow. In April, Volodymyr Zelensky said a missile that killed 12 people in Kyiv had been manufactured in North Korea. The US has imposed sanctions on several entities accused of being linked to arms deals between the two states. Pyongyang has previously denied having any "arms dealings" with Russia. China China has been accused of supplying crucial materials and equipment to at least 20 Russian military factories. Oleh Ivashchenko, head of Kyiv's foreign intelligence service, said in April: "There is information that China supplies tooling machines, special chemical products, gunpowder, and components specifically to defence manufacturing industries. "We have confirmed data on 20 Russian factories." Nato leaders jointly accused Beijing of being a "critical enabler" of Russia by providing "massive support to its defence industry". They claimed China sends "dual-use" components to Moscow such as computer chips that can be used to make weapons. Beijing has denied supplying Russia. Hodges predicts Putin, 72, will stay at the helm of the Kremlin for at least another decade - only taking into account his health. But at some point, the oligarchs around him - who lost enormous fortunes through war sanctions - could snap and force him out, Hodges said. He said: "From a health standpoint, Putin's around for another ten years. "Usually dictators don't have a retirement plan because there are so many people that want to kill them. So that's why they stay in power until the very end. "So I think we should assume he's going to be there, if it's just health, for at least another ten years. "But if enough people finally got mad about how he was ruining Russia's economic standing, that would be different." Putin 'plotting attack on Europe' by Katie Davis, Chief Foreign Reporter (Digital) VLADIMIR Putin could be plotting to exploit the crisis in the Middle East to launch an attack on Europe, a Ukrainian government insider has warned. The cunning tyrant may even attempt to mimic Ukraine 's elaborate Spiderweb operation that blitzed strategic targets inside Russia. A Ukrainian source told The Sun: "The West should be prepared that the Spiderweb operation may be reconfigured and deployed by Russia as a hybrid attack on any Nato Eastern flank nation. "That would be the major Article 5 test that the Alliance has not experienced yet." Humiliated Putin was left reeling after Ukraine's spectacular raid that - after 18 months of planning - inflicted billions of pounds worth of damage, leaving his bomber fleet in tatters. Daring agents smuggled drones and explosives deep inside the sprawling country before unleashing a coordinated assault on June 1. More than 100 drones were hidden in trucks across Russia before being deployed to five air bases - thousands of kilometres from the Ukrainian border. At least 41 of Putin's prized aircraft were wrecked in the attack - including Tu-95, Tu-22M3, and Tu-160 bombers and A-50 spy planes. Delivering such a decisive blow has left Ukraine's enemy scrambling. But a Ukrainian government insider has warned it would also have left Putin's cronies eager to learn from the clandestine operation - and look to mimic it. The source said it could spell disaster if Vlad uses it as a blueprint to launch an attack on a European country.


Telegraph
an hour ago
- Telegraph
The Afghan schoolgirls forced to return to repression by Iran
A 17 year-old contemplates suicide. A 15 year-old is forced intochild marriage. A nine year-old cries outside her school, knowing she'll never set foot inside again. This is the reality for tens of thousands of Afghan girls in Iran who are now being deported to a Taliban-controlled Afghanistan, where their right to education has been systematically destroyed. Iran's interior ministry said it will offer online education to Afghan schoolgirls who the Islamic Regime are forcing to leave the country with their families by the end of this month. Nader Yarahmadi, the head of the ministry's immigration office, said Iran can only enrol students with ID numbers and residency documents in its school – something that some Afghans refugees do not have. But families facing deportation told The Telegraph the government's promise of online education is a baseless claim to justify their deportation. The measures are part of a broader crackdown by Iran that uses spying accusations as a pretext for mass arrests and deportations following its recent conflict with Israel. Since early June, nearly 450,000 Afghan refugees, many who arrived after the Taliban returned to power in 2021, have been deported and 5,000 children separated from their parents, according to UN agencies. Afghans in Iran have long been blamed for the economic problems, but the crackdown has become much harsher since the recent conflict with Israel. During its 12-day war, daily deportations jumped from 2,000 to over 30,000 as Iranian authorities turned public anger toward the vulnerable minority. Some 50 kilometres north of Tehran, in Karaj, nine-year-old Nafas and her family have already received a deportation order. They've packed their belongings and are set to leave for Afghanistan next week. The family fled to Iran after the fall of Kabul, as her father's job with the Western-backed government put them at risk under the Taliban. Farhad, Nafas's father, said: 'She and her sister used to memorise poems, record themselves reciting them, and send the videos to their teacher. 'But now they're both depressed. They hardly eat and cry themselves to sleep every night.' Nafas was set to start third grade (the equivalent to the UK's Year Four) this September, and her 12-year-old sister Neda was entering fifth grade. They had been looking forward to a school trip with their teacher and classmates later this month. 'They went to their school the other day to say goodbye to their teachers. It was heartbreaking. I couldn't bear to watch and had to walk away,' said Farhad. 'This is not what human dignity should look like. I no longer worry about my own safety in Afghanistan, I worry about what will happen to my children.' He said the girls are now on school holidays, but Nafas still walks to school and stands outside, tears in her eyes. 'She doesn't want to leave her friends, and neither does her sister,' her father said. 'They're so innocent. I feel deeply guilty that I can't give them even the most basic right: education and a chance at happiness. A nine and 12-year-old shouldn't be crying over school. They should be learning, not longing to learn.' Schoolgirls returning to Afghanistan are increasingly facing child marriage, driven by traditional rural beliefs and financial hardship. Afsaneh, 15, was forced to return to Afghanistan two months ago. Now, her family is arranging her marriage. Firouz, her brother, said Afsaneh had been doing well in school and wanted to continue her studies. Now, their father wants to marry her off to a man in his 20s. 'I've tried to stop him,' he said. 'But I have no say in the matter... Now she cries all the time.' Their father insists that in their village, if a girl is not married by her age, 'people start talking badly about her'. The girls in Iran are trapped in limbo and are struggling with the prospect of leaving their education and friends behind. Mahnaz, 17, not her real name, has considered suicide rather than face deportation. 'I've thought about killing myself,' she said. 'Dying. It's better than going to Afghanistan and falling into the Taliban's hands and with no school.' Mahnaz was born and raised in Iran and had legal documents, like her mother's family. But her life fell apart eight years ago when her father's severe drug addiction broke up the family. 'My father became severely addicted and it was very difficult,' she said. 'He beat all of us. He beat my mum. He beat me. He intentionally burned my hand when he was using drugs. The mark is still there.' Mahnaz's father attempted suicide and her mother later filed for divorce after years of abuse. But without the male head of household, their residency documents expired and became invalid. In Iran, if the father of a refugee family loses his documents, the whole family risks losing theirs. Mahnaz's father disappeared and with him, their legal status. 'When they expired, me and my mum were left alone,' Mahnaz said. 'We wanted to go to school. To study. Go to a clinic. Go to a hospital. But they wanted documents. We were stuck.' Eventually, they received new census forms, allowing Mahnaz to enroll in high school and her younger brother to continue their education. But with the census, the Islamic Republic can easily find the refugees whose legal status remains uncertain and deport them. Those fully documented by the UN for decades cannot be easily sent back. 'They gave census holders exit forms,' she said. 'We have about 20 days to see what happens to our situation.' The deadline is the end of July for the schoolgirls to leave the country, according to Iranian media. After that, families like Mahnaz face deportation to a country where the Taliban has banned girls from attending school beyond primary grades and barred women from most jobs. At the Afghanistan border, aid workers witness the daily reality of forced returns. Faraidoon Osmani, who works for the Mercy Corps humanitarian NGO at the Herat border crossing, said between 24,000 to 30,000 people arrive daily from Iran. 'The situation is very bad,' Mr Osmani said. 'The people who come, almost all of them, were forcibly expelled.' Families are being torn apart in the deportation process. 'You will see a lot of children unaccompanied at the border,' Mr Osmani said. 'Half the family stayed in Iran, half the family came to the border. Some children who are under 18 years old were also expelled.' Mr Osmani also believes that Iran's promise of online tuition is unrealistic for most returnees. 'The majority of our people live in villages and remote areas,' he said. 'Many people don't have mobile phones, let alone having the internet.' Since taking power in August 2021, the Taliban has severely limited women's rights in Afghanistan. Women now face rules that control nearly every part of their lives; from being forced to cover their faces and banned from driving, to not being allowed to talk to men or choose how they dress. In the small town outside Tehran, Mahnaz works from 9 am until 11 pm, constantly checking on their legal status while trying to support her family. She dreams of university, of helping others, of a future that seems increasingly impossible. 'I really want to continue my studies and go to university,' she said. 'I want to reach somewhere so that I can help others.'


Daily Mail
8 hours ago
- Daily Mail
UK special forces carry out secret 'kill' operation against top Isis bomb-maker in Syria ahead of visit by David Lammy
British special forces mounted a secret 'kill' operation against Islamic State's top bomb-maker in Syria ahead of David Lammy 's visit, security sources have said. Abu Hasan al-Jazrawi, who was the mastermind behind 'Mad Max' suicide truck attacks on Western forces in the region, was killed on his motorbike after a Hellfire missile was unleashed from a remote-controlled Reaper drone. The 'kill' was ordered on June 10 – three weeks later, the Foreign Secretary became the first British minister in 14 years to visit the country, where he pledged a £94.5 million package in support of Syria's new government under president Ahmed al-Sharaa. Al-Jazrawi was not linked to any direct threat to Mr Lammy but he was thought to be behind a failed attack on Damascus's Shia Sayyida Zaynab shrine in March – and plotting fresh attacks. An intelligence source said: 'The country is a safer place with him gone. An attack on the FS [Foreign Secretary] would be an attack on all of us'. Last night, a No 10 source played down claims the strike had been specifically authorised by the Prime Minister, saying that under Operation Shader – the name given to the UK's participation in the battle against Islamic State – decisions over such 'kills' were delegated to the commanders. Al Jazrawi was tracked by British and American special forces to a bunker near Aleppo in western Syria. Thought to have been related to Abu Hafs al-Hashimi al-Qurashi, the leader of Islamic State in Syria, he adopted various aliases as he plotted his attacks. He created the 'Mad Max' – a reference to the Hollywood action films – suicide trucks packed with explosives and covered in steel plates which were used against Iraqi and US forces during the battle for Mosul in 2017. He is also thought to have been behind the bombing of the Christian St Elias Church in Damascus in June which killed 25 worshippers. A military source said: 'There is no indication the terrorists knew the Foreign Secretary was visiting, although it had been arranged weeks in advance and could have been leaked. 'This was a strategic initiative to protect our allies in the region and disrupt any possible attack during the minister's visit.' During his trip Mr Lammy said: 'There is renewed hope for the Syrian people, It is in our interests to support the new government to deliver their commitment to build a stable, more secure and prosperous future for all Syrians.' The first RAF Reaper MQ-9 took to the skies in Helmand, Afghanistan, in 2008. They were initially operated from the US Creech Air Force Base in Nevada, before control was switched to the UK's 13 Squadron who are based at RAF Waddington, Lincolnshire. A Reaper drone, which is laser-guided with a range of 12,000 yards, can carry eight Hellfire missiles.