Iran tightens domestic security amid war tensions with US

As diplomatic efforts to end the US-Israel-Iran war remain fruitless, Iran's government has tightened domestic security controls across the country, especially in the capital Tehran. Over recent weeks, security forces and the morality police have ramped up restrictions, arrests, and punishments against individuals and businesses deemed to violate regulations on behavior the state considers immoral and un-Islamic.

In an effort to bolster the “home front and unity,” numerous religious, political, and security-military officials have stressed the need to “stand firm” against external aggression while showing no tolerance for anything perceived as dissent or non-compliance. The morality police are also enforcing mandatory headscarf rules, shutting down businesses, and pressuring students, lawyers, and others.

Amid the war and economic downturn, the country remains haunted by nationwide anti-government protests in January that left thousands dead and many others arrested and executed. President Masoud Pezeshkian described those events as “bitter and unforgettable” in a televised interview aired Wednesday night.

During the protests, Pezeshkian accused US President Donald Trump and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu of orchestrating rallies in multiple Iranian cities to destabilize the Islamic Republic.

The state security apparatus has combined executions with arrests, asset seizures, and internet and media controls. They have also maintained heavily armed security forces and pro-government supporters on the streets of Tehran and other cities at night to sustain a pro-state message and presence.

Iranian authorities have designated the January protests—the latest in a series of nationwide demonstrations in recent years—as a “coup” plot orchestrated by the US and Israel. They assert that armed CIA and Mossad agents infiltrated protesters to escalate violence, attack government offices, and damage public property. Former officials like ex-Secretary of State Mike Pompeo have claimed on social media that “Mossad agents” were involved in the protests.

The government says 3,117 people were killed, mostly on the nights of January 8 and 9, and rejects higher figures cited by human rights groups and US officials.

At Alikhani Square in Isfahan, where people protested in January, two young men were publicly hanged by authorities on July 28 from a crane and scaffolding erected amid a heavy security presence. Their charges included moharebeh (the “war against God” offense) and “corruption on earth” linked to alleged involvement in arson and the deaths of several security personnel during the national unrest. Family members and locals tried to prevent the public execution but were dispersed by force, with videos circulating on social media appearing to show gunfire. The judiciary dismissed reports that anyone was killed.

Two other young men were executed in the same case, with the US-based Human Rights Activists News Agency reporting that a third has so far avoided hanging after suffering a stroke hours before his scheduled execution but remains at risk.

In total, eight people still face death sentences in this 16-defendant case in Isfahan. Similar proceedings are ongoing in the same province and others across Iran, mostly unreported by authorities.

On Wednesday, UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Volker Turk said in a statement that at least 56 people have been executed on national security-related charges since March 19, including 27 linked to the January nationwide protests. Turk added that more than 100 others are at risk of execution on similar charges.

Iranian authorities argue the executions are necessary to deter any acts deemed against national security, as the US and Israel seek to overthrow the Islamic Republic. They present the executions as punishment for killing security personnel, arson, and vandalism during the protests.

Chief Justice Gholam-Hossein Mohseni-Ejei has stressed that speed is crucial in sentencing, saying in January that “the timely and unhesitating implementation of punishment against rioters is one of the deterrent factors.”

‘Spreading fear across society’

The United Nations and international human rights groups have called for an end to executions, which, according to the Oslo-based NGO Iran Human Rights (IHR), have risen 68% to over 1,600 people executed in 2025—the highest since 1989, just after the eight-year Iran-Iraq war, when large numbers of dissidents were put to death. Beyond national security, charges include murder, drugs, rape, and blasphemy.

Human rights groups say Iran's revolutionary courts, which handle security-related cases, hold closed hearings while defendants face abuse and families are pressured to stay silent and avoid speaking to the media.

“Under current national law, it is impossible to participate in any protest criticizing the state without risking retaliation and repression,” seven international experts and UN special rapporteurs said in a statement last week. “This cycle will only be broken when civic space is opened up and freedom of peaceful assembly and expression is guaranteed. The rationale seems clear: spreading fear across society, preventing future protests, and silencing dissent. Yet repression only breeds more dissent.”

Iranian military and security officials have previously warned that protests during the war would aid the state's enemies.

Facing growing opposition to the executions and other security measures, the Tehran prosecutor's office last week opened cases against unidentified social media users allegedly supporting those executed in the protests. State television host Mohsen Azadi condemned and insulted former Deputy Culture Minister Nadereh Rezaei after she posted an online message arguing that executions sow hatred.

The government and state-affiliated media use terms like “terrorist” and “rioter” for many of the tens of thousands arrested during the January protests for allegedly serving US and Israeli interests.

Hamidreza Moghaddamfar, a senior media adviser to the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC), described the protests in January on state television as a “cognitive war” meticulously prepared by the US-Israel to intentionally maximize casualties to trigger US military intervention.

“Beyond the core elements of dissent, part of the battlefield belongs to impulsive youths whose actions, even unintentionally, amount to treason,” he said of the street protests, also blaming celebrities or business figures who supported protesters online.

Over security concerns, authorities also shut down the global internet for three weeks during the protests, and then for three months when the current war began on February 28. Some connections have since been restored, but the internet is slow and most global messaging services and websites remain blocked by the state.

Control of social spaces

In recent weeks, dozens of businesses, venues, and online pages and shops have been shut down by authorities. Some were told they violated “Islamic norms,” meaning they or their customers failed to observe compulsory modest dress and head covering, mandated by law since just after the country's 1979 revolution.

State media maintains that other cases involve professional association breaches or “promotion of social well-being.” In Tehran's central Sanaei district, popular cafes where young men and women gathered have been forced to temporarily close in recent weeks. Cafes and restaurants have also been shut down by authorities in Mashhad, Isfahan, Yazd, Rasht, and other cities, even as the country grapples with an economic crisis worsened by a mix of mismanagement and local corruption, years of harsh US sanctions, two wars, and a naval blockade.

Opposition groups say many bookshops in Tehran and the northern city of Babol have been sealed under judicial orders in the past week, while private cultural centers hosting art and music events were suspended and their Instagram pages closed. Some gyms have also been shut, including one in Bandar Anzali, for having both male and female members and allegedly promoting “Western culture.”

According to local media and international human rights groups, a substantial number of students, teachers, actors, writers, lawyers, and ethnic minorities have also been targeted by state controls in recent weeks and months.

The reformist newspaper Shargh reported that some dissident students were exposed after anonymous Telegram channels allegedly posted their identifying information, addresses, and family phone numbers. The Coordinating Council of Iran Teachers Associations, one of the few grassroots organizations still active inside the country, said some students have been summoned or arrested on security-related charges.

Last week, popular actor Reza Kianian reposted an Instagram story shared by thousands opposing the killings during the January protests and the ongoing executions. “I cannot pretend that everything is normal. Our shared pain must not get lost in the hustle of daily life,” the message read.