Iranian government turns to internal crackdown with arrests, executions
Social Sharing
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 say.
Within days of Israel's airstrikes beginning on June 13, Iranian security forces started a campaign of widespread arrests accompanied by an intensified street presence based around checkpoints, sources have told CBC and Reuters.
One man in Tehran, who responded to a CBC News callout via WhatsApp but did not provide his name, said Wednesday that security officers are stopping people at pop-up checkpoints around the city and asking them to show their phones and open their messaging apps.
"It will take you only one tweet or one social network post to be arrested if the content is believed sensitive by the state," he said.
Another man told CBC he feels "a deep sense of fear" that Ayatollah Ali Khamenei and his regime may have secured their survival and will turn their anger inward as they did in the 1980s, with crackdowns on their own people and mass executions.
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.
But Alam Saleh, speaking with CBC from Tehran Wednesday, said he knows many Iranians who were critical of the regime and have changed tone in recent days, now rallying around the flag in the face of what they see as an unprovoked and unjustified war.
"What was the point, what Israel and United States has achieved, in bombing Iran for 12 days?" Saleh said.
"The only thing that they probably achieved is to make Iran never, never again trust these two countries."
WATCH | Canadian-Iranian talks about the war:
CBC's Rosemary Barton speaks with Canadian-Iranian Mina Morshed about Israel-Iran war
3 hours ago
Duration 3:38
Get the latest on CBCNews.ca, the CBC News App, and CBC News Network for breaking news and analysis.
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 of Iran, 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," a rights activist in Tehran, who was jailed during mass protests in 2022, told Reuters.
The activist said he knew dozens of people who had been summoned by authorities and either arrested or warned against any expressions of dissent.
Kurdish groups say they're being targeted
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.
Israelis, Iranians skeptical of lasting ceasefire
20 hours ago
Duration 4:25
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, Shia 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.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
National Post
2 hours ago
- National Post
U.S., Iran to talk next week and 'may sign an agreement,' Trump says
President Donald Trump said the U.S. would hold a meeting with Iran next week but cast doubt on the need for a diplomatic agreement on the country's nuclear program, citing the damage that American bombing had done to key sites. Article content 'We're going to talk to them next week,' Trump said Wednesday at a press conference during the NATO summit at The Hague, without giving more details. 'We may sign an agreement. I don't know, to me, I don't think it's that necessary.' Article content Article content Article content He reiterated that the U.S. strikes on the Natanz, Isfahan and Fordow facilities had 'obliterated' them, again disputing an American intelligence assessment that said Tehran's nuclear program had only been set back by a matter of months. Article content Article content The comments came on day two of a ceasefire between Israel and Iran, ending 12 days of conflict that threatened to escalate into a wider regional war and upend energy markets. As the missiles fell silent and oil prices plunged — wiping out most of their increase during the hostilities — focus has switched to a possible next stage of nuclear diplomacy. Article content Trump said the conflict was effectively 'over' after the U.S. bombing mission — though he also warned: 'Can it start again? I guess someday it can. It could maybe start soon.' Iran has been sending signals that it's ready to resume talks, which were underway with the U.S. before Israel attacked. 'The logic of war has failed — return to the logic of diplomacy,' Iran's mission to the United Nations said Wednesday. The mission didn't immediately respond to requests for comment on Trump's hint at new talks. Article content Article content Before Israel's June 13 attack on Iran, Trump envoy Steve Witkoff had taken the lead in five rounds of talks with the Islamic Republic, seeking a deal to replace the 2015 nuclear agreement that Trump abandoned during his first term. Article content Article content 'We're hopeful for a comprehensive peace agreement,' Witkoff said Wednesday on CNBC when asked what the next steps are for diplomacy with Iran. 'We were hopeful when we first started negotiations. It didn't quite work out that way, but today, we are hopeful. The signs are there.' Article content Witkoff said the U.S. has been 'having conversations with the Iranians' and that 'multiple interlocutors are reaching out to us,' adding that his 'strong sense' is that 'they're ready.' Article content 'For Iran, a diplomatic track makes as much sense today as it did before the attack,' said Ray Takeyh, a senior fellow at the New York-based Council on Foreign Relations. 'It seems that the Iranian program was not fully disabled. This may tempt Israel or the U.S. to conduct additional strikes. A diplomatic process will obviate that possibility.'
Globe and Mail
2 hours ago
- Globe and Mail
Trump hits out at reports of limited damage caused by U.S. strikes on Iran
U.S. President Donald Trump on Wednesday rejected an early intelligence assessment that U.S. strikes inflicted only a marginal setback on Iran's nuclear program, insisting that his country's spies did not have the full picture and defending his own swift conclusion that American bombs and missiles delivered a crushing blow. 'This was a devastating attack, and it knocked them for a loop,' Trump said as his administration scrambled to support his claims, made only hours after the attack, that Iranian nuclear facilities were 'completely and fully obliterated.' Trump said Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth and other military officials would hold an 'interesting and irrefutable' news conference Thursday morning to 'fight for the Dignity of our Great American Pilots' who carried out the mission. He wrote on social media that 'these Patriots were very upset' by 'Fake News' reports about the limited impact of the strikes. Opinion: What was the point of the conflict in Iran? To keep three men in power Editorial: Donald Trump and the art of nuclear diplomacy The issue dominated Trump's attendance at NATO's annual summit in the Netherlands, which was otherwise focused on European security. The White House highlighted an Israeli statement that Iran's nuclear efforts were delayed by years, much longer than the few months determined by American intelligence. A spokesperson for the Iranian foreign ministry also said the facilities have suffered significant damage. But those comments fell short of Trump's hyperbole and did little to suggest that U.S. strikes had eliminated the threat of Iran developing a nuclear weapon. Secretary of State Marco Rubio, speaking in an interview with Politico, limited his own assessment to saying Iran was 'much further away from a nuclear weapon today than they were before the president took this bold action.' Drawing reliable conclusions about the impact of the U.S. strikes remains difficult, especially only days after they took place. That makes the issue a breeding ground for competing claims that could determine how American voters view Trump's risky decision to join Israel's attacks on Iran. Jeffrey Lewis, a professor of non-proliferation at the Middlebury Institute, said Trump was trying to have it both ways. 'If it's too early to know, why is Trump saying it's obliterated?' he said. 'Either it's too early to know, or you know.' Also at stake are Trump's next steps in the Middle East, where diplomatic efforts could be required to prevent Iran from rebuilding its nuclear program. Trump said U.S. and Iranian officials would meet soon, resuming a dialogue that was interrupted by nearly two weeks of war, even as he suggested that negotiations were no longer necessary. 'I don't care if I have an agreement or not,' Trump said, because Iran was too badly damaged to even consider rebuilding its program. 'They're not going to be doing it anyway. They've had it.' Iran maintains that its atomic ambitions are for peaceful purposes, while U.S. and Israeli leaders have described the country's nuclear program as the precursor to obtaining a nuclear weapon. The episode has triggered some of Trump's long-standing vendettas against leaks and intelligence officials, whom he has often viewed as a part of a 'deep state' dedicated to undermining his agenda. He also lashed out at media outlets that reported on the classified assessment, describing them as 'scum' and 'disgusting.' The intelligence assessment was produced by the Defense Intelligence Agency, which is part of the Pentagon. Out of all the country's spy services, it's usually 'the fastest on the draw' to produce preliminary results, said Frank Montoya, a former counter-intelligence leader. 'They have to respond quickly to what the war fighters are looking for, but those preliminary assessments are still based on information that's out there,' Montoya said. Leon Panetta, who held top national security roles under President Barack Obama, said it's too soon to have a more complete understanding of the strikes' impact. 'Bottom line is, that's going to take an extended period of time, at least a number of weeks, before we have a full assessment of the damage done by the attack,' Panetta said. However, Trump administration officials have been chiming in with their own statements emphasizing the damage done by the American mission. CIA Director John Ratcliffe said there's 'a body of credible intelligence' showing 'several key Iranian nuclear facilities were destroyed and would have to be rebuilt over the course of years.' Trump said questioning the effectiveness of the strikes was disrespectful to the military, which flew stealth bombers halfway around the world to attack with weapons designed to penetrate deep underground. The reports, he said, were 'very unfair to the pilots, who risked their lives for our country.' He described the American attack as a definitive conclusion to what he's dubbed 'the 12-day war,' much like the dropping of the atomic bombs on Hiroshima and Nagasaki heralded the end of World War II. 'That ended that war,' he said. 'This ended the war.' During a news conference at the NATO summit, Trump briefly ceded the stage to Hegseth, who also lashed out at the media. 'There's a reason the president calls out the fake news for what it is,' he said. Hegseth said reporters were using a leaked intelligence assessment to politically damage Trump. 'They want to spin it to try to make him look bad,' he said. Trump pointed to satellite photos that showed the area around the nuclear facilities was 'burned black,' and he said that underground tunnels where uranium was enriched and stored were 'all collapsed.' He also suggested that Israel had sources on the ground in Iran, saying 'they have guys that go in there after the hit' to evaluate the damage. The bombing 'rendered the enrichment facility inoperable,' according to a statement distributed by the White House and the office of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. The American strikes, combined with Israeli strikes on other elements of Iran's military nuclear program, have 'set back Iran's ability to develop nuclear weapons by many years,' the Israel Atomic Energy Commission said. In addition, Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesperson Esmail Baghaei told Al Jazeera that there was significant damage from U.S. bombers. 'Our nuclear installations have been badly damaged, that's for sure,' he said. One critical question is whether enriched uranium, which could be developed into fuel for a nuclear bomb, was moved out of facilities before the U.S. strikes. 'I believe they didn't have a chance to get anything out, because we acted fast,' Trump said. He added that 'it's very hard to move that kind of material, and very dangerous.' In the wake of the leak, the White House going forward intends to try to limit the sharing of classified documents with Congress, according to a senior White House official. The official, who was not authorized to comment publicly on the matter and spoke on the condition of anonymity, did not provide detail on how the administration would go about limiting the flow of classified information to lawmakers. The move, first reported by Axios, seems certain to be challenged by members of Congress. Classified briefings for lawmakers, originally scheduled for Tuesday, are now expected to take place Thursday and Friday.
Globe and Mail
3 hours ago
- Globe and Mail
Ottawa's evacuation buses bring only seven Canadians out of Israel, West Bank
Global Affairs Canada says it brought just seven Canadians out of Israel and the West Bank to Jordan on buses offered Wednesday. Ottawa started offering evacuations from both regions later than some of its allies, and has taken note of low uptick from Canadians. A chartered flight from Jordan left Tuesday for Athens with Canadians filling just 95 of the 265 seats Ottawa had arranged. Consular officials continue to be stationed at countries bordering Iran, where Canada has no diplomatic presence, to help people find commercial routes home. Canadians in Iran urged to register with Global Affairs Canada for flight options CBSA investigates whether suspected senior Iranian officials were allowed entry into Canada The department says it is aware of 800 Canadians leaving Israel, Iran and the West Bank combined since Israel and Iran started exchanging missile strikes on June 13. Both countries have agreed to a ceasefire, which has allowed commercial flights to resume at the Tel Aviv airport. Ottawa says its Emergency Watch and Response Centre has answered more than 6,000 calls and messages from Canadians, and says all requesting assistance to leave have received information on available departure options. As of Wednesday, there are just under 6,000 Canadians who have registered with Global Affairs Canada as being in Israel, with 5,500 in Iran and nearly 450 in either the West Bank or Gaza.
