Mass Arrests To Shoot-To-Kill Threats: Iran’s Severe Crackdown Against Dissent Amid War

Last Updated:March 17, 2026, 12:01 IST

Iran’s crackdown: Security forces are arresting individuals suspected of “collaborating with foreign entities”, sharing information with foreign media or photographing attack sites

Iran’s leadership has launched a fresh, stronger crackdown against domestic dissent, following a period of massive nationwide protests and subsequent military strikes by the US and Israeli forces. Iran says it has arrested 10 foreign nationals on charges of espionage, the Spectator Index said in a post on X.

What are the measures? Why are they so stringent? News18 explains.

Iran cracks down on dissent

The Wall Street Journal and other media reports highlighted the stringent measures being taken in Iran:

Mass arrests: Security forces are conducting fresh arrests, targeting at least 500 individuals suspected of “collaborating with foreign entities", sharing information with international media, or photographing sites of recent airstrikes.

Intimidation and fear: Armed men on motorcycles are brandishing weapons on the streets, particularly at night, to discourage people from leaving their homes.

Severe warnings: The Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) has explicitly threatened that any new unrest will be met with a response “stronger than January 8," referencing the peak of previous mass killings.

Shoot-to-kill threats: Authorities have warned of “no mercy" and threatened potential protesters with death to prevent a new uprising.

The previous unrest

In 2025

The current repression follows what has been described as the largest uprising in Iran since the 1979 Revolution. Protests erupted in late December 2025 due to a severe economic crisis and a sharp devaluation of the Iranian rial. In January 2026, security forces carried out a brutal crackdown.

The 2025 Iranian protests were primarily ignited by a severe economic crisis that reached a breaking point in late December. The movement officially began on 28 December 2025, when shopkeepers and merchants in Tehran’s Grand Bazaar and the Alaeddin Shopping Centre went on strike. They closed their businesses to protest: The Iranian rial plummeted to a record low of approximately 1.45 million per US dollar. It had lost 40% of its value in the months following a 12-day conflict with Israel in June 2025. Soaring consumer prices and an annual inflation rate exceeding 40% made basic necessities like meat and dairy products unaffordable for many.

Small business owners warned that volatile exchange rates and a lack of predictable business conditions were leading them toward bankruptcy.

While the currency crash was the immediate trigger, the unrest was fuelled by years of accumulated grievances:

Energy and Water Crises: Months of nationwide rolling blackouts lasting for 3 to 4 hours daily and severe water shortages throughout 2025 had already brought public anger to a “tinderbox" level.

Government mismanagement: Critics pointed to systemic corruption and the prioritization of foreign military spending such as over $1 billion transferred to Hezbollah in 2025 while domestic infrastructure and social welfare suffered.

Budgetary imbalance: Public anger intensified when President Masoud Pezeshkian proposed a budget that increased security spending by nearly 150% while offering wage increases that were far below the rate of inflation.

Legacy of repression: Continued dissatisfaction with strict social laws and political repression, persisting since the 2022 “Woman, Life, Freedom" movement, provided a ready framework for the economic protests to quickly evolve into calls for the overthrow of the Islamic Republic.

Human rights groups have verified over 7,000 deaths. Internal estimates from Iran’s Ministry of Health reportedly suggested figures as high as 30,000 to 36,500. Citing Iran’s nuclear program and the suppression of these protests, US and Israeli forces launched “Operation Epic Fury" on February 28, 2026. These strikes killed Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei and other high-ranking officials.

In 2022

On September 13, 2022, 22-year-old Kurdish woman Mahsa Amini was detained in Tehran by the morality police for allegedly wearing her hijab “improperly". While the state claimed she died of natural causes (a heart attack), eyewitnesses and leaked medical records indicated she was severely beaten, suffering a cerebral haemorrhage and stroke before falling into a coma. Her funeral in Saqqez on September 17 became the first site of mass protest, where women famously removed their headscarves in defiance.

The movement quickly spread across all 31 provinces, uniting various social classes and ethnic groups. Initially focused on ending compulsory hijab and abolishing the morality police, the protests broadened into calls for the total overthrow of the clerical regime. Women publicly burning their veils and cutting their hair (Gisuboran) became global symbols of the resistance.

The state responded with lethal force which Khamenei oversaw. By early 2023, human rights groups reported over 500 deaths, including many children, and more than 20,000 arrests.

In 2024 and 2025, the UN Independent Fact-Finding Mission concluded that the regime committed crimes against humanity, including extrajudicial killings, torture, and “gender persecution".

Global reaction

On March 16, 2026, the UN Special Rapporteur on Iran reported that the government had crushed protests through widespread arrests, violence, and severe digital restrictions.

The European Union imposed new sanctions on March 16, 2026, targeting 16 individuals and 3 entities involved in the suppression of the January protests.

The UN Independent Fact-Finding Mission warned that the human rights crisis could further deteriorate as regional military tensions continue.

UN Special Rapporteur’s report on Iran’s repression

In her report presented to the UN Human Rights Council on March 16, 2026, UN Special Rapporteur Mai Sato detailed a “sweeping crackdown" by Iranian authorities following nationwide protests that began on December 28, 2025.

The report highlighted the following key details regarding the repression:

A “new and profound" pattern emerged where security forces raided hospitals and arrested wounded protesters directly from their beds in Iran. Authorities issued directives for hospitals to report injured protesters and arrested medical professionals who treated them, effectively “criminalising the act of saving life".

Official reports indicated the detention of tens of thousands of individuals. Those arrested included peaceful protesters, schoolchildren, journalists, human rights defenders, and lawyers attempting to defend the detainees. Nearly 100 “forced confessions" were broadcast on state television to reinforce a narrative that protesters were “dangerous criminals" or “terrorists".

A near-total internet and mobile service shutdown was implemented starting January 8, 2026. This “digital shutdown" was used to prevent international witnessing of potential atrocities and to disrupt the coordination of peaceful protests. Families were left in distress, unable to confirm the safety of loved ones, while authorities allegedly coerced some into signing false confessions about the cause of death of relatives.

The report noted a sharp increase in the use of the death penalty, with over 1,600 executions recorded in 2025—a significant rise from previous years. Judicial officials have threatened protesters with charges such as “enmity against God" (moharebeh), which carry a mandatory death sentence.

With agency inputs

News explainers Mass Arrests To Shoot-To-Kill Threats: Iran’s Severe Crackdown Against Dissent Amid War

Read More