TEHRAN, Iran – Iranian authorities have warned that they will respond forcefully to anti-regime protests in the country, as Israel and the United States look set to further target the Basij militia of Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps (IRGC).
US President Donald Trump and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu have said they want to see Iran’s 47-year-old theocracy overthrown. They urged Iranians to remain vigilant at home and “be prepared to seize the moment.”
Police Chief Ahmad Reza Radan told state television in a program broadcast Tuesday night that if Iranians take to the streets “at the will of the enemy,” “we will not see them as protesters. We will see them as enemies and we will do to them what we do to our enemies.”
“All of us are ready to put our finger on the trigger to protect the revolution and support our people and country,” he said.
This comes two months after thousands of people were killed in nationwide protests that Iranian authorities blamed on “terrorists” backed by the United States and Israel. The United Nations and international human rights organizations have accused the state military of a so-called crackdown on peaceful protesters and a 20-day total internet blackout.
Ladan acknowledged that in the aftermath of the protests and since the US-Israeli war against Iran began 12 days ago, police forces have been patrolling the streets of Tehran and cities across the country “day and night” in coordination with the Basij paramilitary group.
Basij forces also regularly set up heavily armed checkpoints at different times of the day, many on or near roads leading to police, Revolutionary Guards, and other military headquarters and local bases.
Videos broadcast by Iranian state media this week showed armored vehicles and masked security forces taking part in street rallies calling for revenge for the killing of Supreme Leader Ayatollah Khamenei and warning against any anti-regime sentiment.
Authorities have called on supporters to gather at mosques, and other footage shows armed Basij forces inside the mosque brandishing assault rifles and shouting slogans against the United States and Israel.
The Israeli military has so far largely refrained from directly targeting mosques, but this week it appeared to indicate it may also support assassinations in the streets to threaten Iranian government officials.
Iranian state media aired footage on Tuesday of a neighborhood in eastern Tehran where a vehicle traveling on a highway was bombed during the day. The state-run Student News Network said four civilians were killed and others, including passersby, were injured, but did not provide details.
In another first during the war, the administration building of Sepah Bank, which stores military accounts, was targeted in Tehran by a missile attack overnight starting Wednesday.
Reporters for state media claimed from the scene of the attack that during the war, bank employees were working extra shifts after midnight to adjust their salaries, even though banks were open at a very limited capacity during the day. He said the number of casualties was “very high” but did not elaborate.
Following this bank-related attack, the Revolutionary Guards’ Qatam al-Anbiya headquarters declared that the scope of Iranian attacks had expanded to include U.S. and Israeli banks and economic interests throughout the region.
This week, the Israeli military signaled that future stages of the conflict could target lower-level Basij forces more directly.
The Persian-language representative of the Israeli army released a video message to the mothers of the young generation of Basij forces and Revolutionary Guards, telling them that only by persuading them to lay down their weapons can they save their sons from being targeted by airstrikes.
“The Ayatollah and his henchmen are on the run, but these cowards have nowhere to hide,” Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said in a statement to Iranians. “In the coming days, we will create the conditions for you to figure out your destiny.”
On Wednesday, in Tehran and other cities, the Revolutionary Guards and other armed forces held funeral processions for commanders killed during the war. A number of new airstrikes were reported in the afternoon in the capital.
Iranian authorities say most of the more than 1,250 people reported killed during the war were civilians, and also blame heavy bombing of homes, hospitals, schools and historic sites by the United States and Israel. The Israeli military said Monday that it had killed more than 1,900 soldiers and commanders, but did not comment on civilian casualties.
The war is the second in less than a year for more than 90 million Iranians, who have suffered for 12 days under a near-total internet shutdown imposed by the Iranian government. Intranets work to keep essential services running and state media to maintain control over the flow of information.
Iranian state television continues to project anger and threats not only against the United States and Israel, but also against Iranians who might be seen as sympathizing with them against the regime.
This week, several members of the Iranian women’s soccer team were granted asylum by Australia after a host branded them “traitors” for refusing to sing the national anthem in protest.
In a speech on Wednesday, another state television host made broader threats against Iranians at home and abroad who support the “global arrogance and liberalism” of the United States, Israel and Western allies, as well as those who support Reza Pahlavi, the son of former U.S.-based Shah Mohamed Reza Pahlavi, who also wants to overthrow the regime.
“Confiscating your property makes no sense. We will mourn for your mothers, for those of you who are now thinking foolishly and thinking that something must be done because there is chaos,” he said, in reference to the judicial authorities’ move to confiscate the property of Iranian diaspora people who oppose the regime.
