Iran Shifts Focus to Internal Crackdown

News Desk

Islamabad: Iranian authorities have shifted focus from a ceasefire with Israel to launching a sweeping internal security crackdown, involving mass arrests, executions, and increased military deployments, especially in the volatile Kurdish regions, according to officials and activists.

Following Israel’s airstrikes that began on June 13, Iranian security forces swiftly initiated a widespread campaign of arrests and bolstered their street presence with numerous checkpoints, sources said.

While some in Israel and exiled opposition groups had hoped that the military strikes—targeting Revolutionary Guards, internal security forces, and nuclear sites—would incite a public uprising to topple the regime, no major protests have yet emerged.

Nevertheless, a senior Iranian security official, along with two others informed on internal matters, confirmed that the government remains focused on the threat of potential unrest, particularly in the Kurdish provinces.

Revolutionary Guard and Basij paramilitary units have reportedly been placed on high alert, with internal stability now prioritized above all, the security official said. Authorities are said to be especially concerned about possible infiltration by Israeli agents, ethnic separatists, and the exiled opposition group People’s Mujahideen Organisation, which has a history of launching attacks inside Iran.

Read More: https://thepenpk.com/ceasefire-signed-questions-multiply/

Activists inside Iran are staying cautious. “We are being extremely careful because there’s a real fear the regime will exploit this situation,” said a rights activist in Tehran who was previously jailed during the 2022 protests. He noted that dozens of people he knows have either been arrested or warned against showing any dissent.

The Iranian human rights organization HRNA reported that 705 individuals have been arrested on political or security-related charges since the conflict began. Many of them are accused of spying for Israel. On Tuesday, state media confirmed the execution of three people in Urmia, near the Turkish border. According to the Kurdish rights group Hengaw, all three were Kurdish.

Iran’s Foreign and Interior Ministries did not respond to requests for comment.

Checkpoints and Security Measures

One security source said troops have been stationed along the borders with Pakistan, Iraq, and Azerbaijan to prevent the entry of “terrorist elements.” Another confirmed the arrest of hundreds in recent weeks.

Iran’s Kurdish and Baluch communities—mostly Sunni Muslims—have long opposed the Shi’ite, Persian-led government in Tehran.

Read More: https://thepenpk.com/diplomacy-and-destruction-navigating-iran-israel-ceasefire/

Iranian Kurdish separatist parties based in Iraqi Kurdistan reported arrests among their activists and widespread military deployments within Iran. Ribaz Khalili of the Democratic Party of Iranian Kurdistan (KDPI) said Revolutionary Guards moved into schools in Kurdish areas shortly after the Israeli attacks began and have been conducting house-to-house searches for weapons and suspects.

The Guards also reportedly evacuated industrial zones near their bases and restricted major roadways to military use, transporting reinforcements to key Kurdish cities like Kermanshah and Sanandaj.

Fatma Ahmed, a cadre from the Free Life Party of Kurdistan (PJAK), claimed that over 500 opposition members have been detained in Kurdish provinces since the strikes began. An official from the Komala party, speaking anonymously, and Ahmed both described a network of checkpoints where residents are subjected to physical searches and inspections of their mobile phones and documents.