Iran is said to be rounding up thousands after crushing bloodiest unrest in years

Plain clothes Iranian security forces have rounded up thousands of people in a campaign of mass arrests and intimidation to deter further protests after crushing the bloodiest unrest since the 1979 Islamic Revolution, sources told Reuters. Modest protests that began last month in Tehran’s Grand Bazaar over economic hardship unleashed long-suppressed wider grievances and swiftly escalated into the gravest existential threat to Iran’s Shiite theocracy in nearly five decades, with protesters commonly calling for ruling clerics to step down. Authorities cut internet access and stifled the unrest with overwhelming force that killed thousands, according to rights groups. Tehran blames “armed terrorists” linked to Israel and the United States for the violence. Within days, plain clothes security forces launched a campaign of widespread arrests accompanied by an intensified street presence based around checkpoints, according to five activists who spoke on condition of anonymity from inside Iran. They said detainees had been placed in secret lock-ups. “They are arresting everyone,” one of the activists said. “No one knows where they are being taken or where they are being held. With these arrests and threats, they are trying to inject fear into society.” Similar accounts were given to Reuters by lawyers, medics, witnesses and two Iranian officials speaking on condition of anonymity to avoid retribution by security services. They said the round-ups appeared aimed at preventing any serious revival of protests by spreading fear just as the clerical establishment faces rising external pressure. Uncertainty over the possibility of military action against the Islamic Republic has lingered since US President Donald Trump said last week that an “armada” was heading toward the country but that he hoped he would not have to use it. On Thursday, Trump said he planned to speak with Iran, as Pentagon chief Pete Hegseth said the US military would be ready to carry out whatever the president decided. That came a day after Trump doubled down on his threats by demanding Iran negotiate curbs on its nuclear programme, warning that any future US attack would be “far worse” than air strikes last June on three nuclear sites. Multiple Western and Middle Eastern sources told Reuters this week that Trump is weighing options against Iran that include targeted strikes on security forces and leaders to inspire protesters, although Israeli and Arab officials said air power alone would not topple the clerical establishment. One of the activists said security forces were detaining not only people accused of involvement in the latest unrest but also those arrested during protests in previous years, “even if they had not participated this time, plus members of their families”. The latest death toll compiled by the US-based HRANA rights group stands at 6,373 - 5,993 protesters, 214 security personnel, 113 under-18s and 53 bystanders. Arrests stand at 42,486, according to HRANA. Judiciary officials have warned that “those committing sabotage, burning public property and involved in armed clashes with security forces” could face death sentences. The UN human rights office told Reuters on Thursday it understood that the number of detainees was very high and they were at risk of torture and unfair trials. Mai Soto, the UN Special Rapporteur on Iran, said the thousands of detainees included doctors and healthcare workers. Two Iranian officials, speaking on condition of anonymity, confirmed to Reuters that thousands of arrests had been carried out in the past few days. They said many detainees were being held in unofficial detention sites, “including warehouses and other improvised locations”, and the judiciary was acting quickly to process cases. Iranian authorities declined to comment publicly on the number of arrests, or say where the detainees were being held. Authorities said on January 21 that 3,117 were killed in the unrest, including 2,427 civilians and security personnel. Amnesty International reported on January 23 that “sweeping arbitrary detentions, enforced disappearances, bans on gatherings and attacks to silence families of victims mark the suffocating militarisation imposed in Iran by the Islamic Republic’s authorities in the aftermath of protest massacres”. Arrests are continuing across the sprawling country, from small towns to the capital, witnesses and activists said. “They arrested my brother and my cousin a few days ago,” said a resident of northwestern Iran who asked not to be named. “They stormed our home in plain clothes, searched the entire house, and took all the laptops and mobile phones. They warned us that if we make this public, they will arrest all of us.” More than 60 per cent of Iran’s 92 million people are under the age of 30. Although the latest protests were snuffed out, clerical rulers will eventually risk more demonstrations if the heavy repression persists, according to rights activists. Three Iranian lawyers told Reuters that dozens of families had approached them in recent days seeking help for relatives who had been detained. “Many families are coming to us asking for legal assistance for their detained children,” one lawyer said. “Some of those arrested are under 18 - boys and girls.” Human rights groups have long said Iranian security organs use informal detention sites during periods of serious unrest, holding detainees without access to lawyers or family members for extended periods. Five doctors told Reuters that protesters wounded during protests had been removed from hospitals by security forces and dozens of doctors had been summoned by authorities or warned against helping injured demonstrators. Prison authorities denied holding wounded protesters. Families of five detainees said the lack of information about their whereabouts itself had become a form of punishment. “We don’t know where they are, whether they are still alive, or when we’ll see them,” said an Iranian man whose daughter was rounded up. “They took my child as if they were arresting a terrorist.”

Iran is said to be rounding up thousands after crushing bloodiest unrest in years

.css-1c6uqr6{color:inherit;font-weight:inherit;font-size:inherit;font-family:inherit;line-height:inherit;overflow-wrap:break-word;}Security forces reportedly use unofficial warehouses and secret lock-ups as activists say arrests stand at more than 42,000

Security forces reportedly use unofficial warehouses and secret lock-ups as activists say arrests stand at more than 42,000