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Hundreds of people have been detained across the country over the past two weeks, according to information reviewed by Iran International and local reports. Many detainees’ identities, locations of detention and legal status remain unknown.

Arrests have been reported in multiple provinces including East and West Azarbaijan, Alborz, Isfahan, Tehran, Khuzestan, Kordestan, Kerman, Kohgiluyeh and Boyer-Ahmad, Gilan, Lorestan and Yazd. Authorities have accused detainees of offenses such as “disturbing public opinion,” “propaganda against the system,” “online activities,” “disrupting public security,” and “cooperation with hostile countries.”

State television and security-linked outlets have simultaneously broadcast forced confessions from some detainees, raising concerns among rights advocates that the statements could be used to justify prosecutions. Human rights organizations have repeatedly criticized the Islamic Republic for using televised confessions obtained under pressure as evidence in court proceedings.

Officials have accompanied the crackdown with increasingly explicit threats.

Ahmadreza Radan, commander of Iran’s police, said more than 80 people had been arrested for spreading “disturbing content” online. He added that thousands of others had received warning text messages over posts deemed to spread panic.

Radan also warned that police would respond forcefully to any street protests, saying officers would be “ready to pull the trigger” if demonstrations occur.

Meanwhile, state television aired a program in which a presenter threatened government opponents, saying authorities would eventually pursue them whether they were inside or outside the country.

Security agencies have also reported new arrests linked to alleged espionage. The Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps said six people were detained in Kordestan province and one individual was killed during an operation. The Guards-affiliated Fars website reported that intelligence forces arrested 50 people in Kohgiluyeh and Boyer-Ahmad province. The Intelligence Ministry said at least 30 others were detained on accusations of spying for the United States and Israel.

Authorities have also targeted those documenting the conflict. The ministry warned that filming or photographing strike locations could amount to acting as the “enemy’s fifth column.” Guards intelligence officials said some individuals who sent images of attacks to media outlets had already been arrested.

Internet disruptions have further limited the flow of information. The monitoring group NetBlocks reported that a nationwide internet blackout continues for hundreds of hours.

The group warned the shutdown posed a direct threat to civilians by restricting access to vital information. With communications cut in many areas, families of detainees say they often do not know where relatives are being held.

Threats have also extended beyond Iran’s borders. The office of Iran’s prosecutor general issued a statement warning Iranians abroad that assets could be seized and severe penalties imposed if authorities determine they have “cooperated with the enemy.”

The statement broadly defined such cooperation as providing intelligence or engaging in activities benefiting Israel, the United States or other “hostile states.” Officials said legal proceedings against such individuals had entered an “operational phase,” including asset identification and confiscation.

At the same time, reports have emerged of expanded security deployments in cities nationwide. Revolutionary Guards and Basij units have established checkpoints in urban areas, with citizens reporting aggressive searches of vehicles and mobile phones.

A resident of Tehran told Iran International that police at a checkpoint in Haft-e Tir Square forced him to unlock his phone and searched through his calls, photos and videos.

Another resident in Isfahan said Basij personnel threatened him and his family with weapons during an inspection at a busy city square. According to the witness, officers treated civilians as if they were the enemy.

Security checkpoints themselves have increasingly become targets in the ongoing conflict. Video circulating online shows drone strikes hitting Basij checkpoints and equipment in Tehran.

The Fars website reported that at least 10 Basij and security personnel stationed at checkpoints in the capital were killed in strikes on Wednesday evening. Additional attacks on similar positions have been reported in other cities.

The Israeli military later said its air force had targeted Basij checkpoints and personnel in Tehran, describing them as part of the Islamic Republic’s internal security apparatus used to suppress dissent.

Data from the US-based Armed Conflict Location & Event Data Project recorded at least 18 Israeli strikes on Basij checkpoints on Wednesday alone, most of them in Tehran.

The arrests and heightened street controls come as Iran’s prison system is already under severe strain following previous protest crackdowns that saw tens of thousands detained. Human rights groups say many prisons face overcrowding, poor sanitation and shortages of basic supplies.

At the same time, some detention facilities and intelligence buildings have reportedly been damaged in airstrikes, raising further uncertainty about where newly arrested individuals are being held.

With communication restrictions still in place and many detentions unacknowledged by authorities, families and rights advocates say concerns are growing about the fate of hundreds of people detained during one of the most volatile periods in Iran in years.

Speaking on Fox News Radio's The Brian Kilmeade Show, Trump said security forces loyal to the Islamic Republic routinely shoot demonstrators in the streets, making it difficult for unarmed civilians to challenge the regime despite growing pressure from the ongoing conflict.

“They literally have people in the streets with machine guns, machine-gunning people down if they want to protest,” Trump said, referring to Iran’s security forces. “That’s a pretty big hurdle to climb for people that don’t have weapons.”

Trump said that while change inside Iran will eventually happen, it is unlikely to occur quickly under such conditions.

“It’ll happen,” he said, “but it probably will be — maybe not immediately.”

The US president made the remarks while discussing the internal situation in Iran amid the escalating war between Iran, Israel and the United States. Trump argued that the regime maintains control largely through force, describing the security forces as an “evil group of people” who shoot protesters “right through the head.”

Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps warned on Thursday that opponents could face a blow “even stronger than January 8,” signaling the possibility of a renewed and harsher crackdown if street protests resume.

More than 36,500 Iranians were killed by security forces during a two-day crackdown on nationwide protests on January 8–9.

IRGC threatens harsher crackdown if protests return

Trump said the presence of armed units on the streets makes it extremely difficult for ordinary Iranians to take action against the government.

“You’re talking about people that go out shooting protesters,” he said. “So when someone says go out and protest, that’s a pretty high standard.”

The comments came after Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu announced that the current conflict will create conditions for political change inside Iran.

Trump said continued military pressure on Iran's regime could weaken the authorities over time.

“They’re going to be in worse shape as time goes by,” Trump said, adding that US and Israeli strikes have severely damaged Iran’s military capabilities.

Officials in Tehran say the sums are meant to “buy” unity among Lebanon’s Shiite leadership to ensure that they “act in accordance with Iran’s interests, not Lebanon’s interests.”

Nabih Berri did not respond to Iran International’s request for comment. One of his advisers said that Berri would not comment on the matter at this time.

Berri has not publicly opposed Hezbollah’s attacks on Israel in support of Iran, the sources said, because he does not want to risk losing his financial resources.

The 88-year-old politician heads Lebanon's Amal Movement and holds significant sway in Lebanon’s domestic and foreign policy.

The Shiite organization, formed in the 1970s, remains one of the country’s main political actors. It maintains close political ties with Hezbollah, and both belong to Lebanon’s Shiite political camp.

On March 1, Hezbollah targeted Israel in support of Tehran. Israel launched a new military operation in retaliation.

The sources said Berri has been unwilling to support efforts by the Lebanese government to disarm Hezbollah because, in exchange for receiving large sums from Tehran, he must “advance measures in the Lebanese parliament that align with Tehran’s interests.”

In recent months, Lebanon’s President Joseph Aoun and Prime Minister Nawaf Salam have tried to pressure Hezbollah to disarm in order to reduce tensions with Israel and the international community.

Army forces have confiscated Hezbollah weapons in parts of southern Lebanon, but senior Lebanese officials have said that fully implementing the plan could trigger internal tensions, as Hezbollah has refused to hand over its entire arsenal.

Hezbollah Secretary-General Naim Qassem and officials of the Islamic Republic have repeatedly opposed disarming the group.

Following Hezbollah’s attack on Israel, the Lebanese government announced that the group's military activities would be banned.

On March 6, Israeli Defense Minister Israel Katz warned the Lebanese government that if it remains unable to fulfill its commitments regarding Hezbollah’s disarmament, Lebanon will “pay a very heavy price.”

Tehran considers Hezbollah one of the main pillars of the so-called Axis of Resistance—a term used by Iranian officials to refer to allied armed groups such as Hamas, Islamic Jihad, Hezbollah, Iraq’s Popular Mobilization Forces, and the Houthis in Yemen.

The Wall Street Journal reported in November 2025 that Tehran transferred hundreds of millions of dollars in oil revenue to Hezbollah in the preceding year through exchange offices, private companies and a financing network in Dubai.

Israel’s Kan network reported in December 2025 that Tehran had agreed to pay $1 billion to Hezbollah.

Neither report can be independently verified by Iran International.

The office of the Speaker of Lebanon’s Parliament, in a statement issued after the article was published, called the claim "false and baseless."

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