Iran Guards vow ‘stronger’ response than in January if new protests erupt
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Anti-government protests in Iran in January were sparked by economic grievances in the sanctions-hit country.
PHOTO: REUTERS
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TEHRAN – Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC), the ideological arm of the country’s military, warned on March 13 that any new protests against the authorities would be met with a stronger response than in January, when several thousand people were killed.
“The evil enemy, failing to achieve its field battle goals, is once again pursuing the instillation of fear and street riots,” the IRGC said in a statement broadcast on TV, promising “a stronger blow than on Jan 8” in the event of new unrest.
The warning comes two weeks into Iran’s war with the US and Israel, in which Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu says one of the aims is to “create, for the Iranian people, the conditions to bring down” the Iranian government.
US President Donald Trump has also called for Iranians to rise up and overthrow their government.
In December 2025, protests against the high cost of living in Iran turned into a broad protest movement against the authorities.
It reached its peak on Jan 8 with what the Iranian authorities called “riots” blamed on “terrorists” working on behalf of Israel and the US.
The official death toll from the Iranian authorities stands at more than 3,000, with the government saying the vast majority were members of security forces or passers-by.
Non-governmental organisations based abroad have accused the security forces of deliberately firing on demonstrators.
The Human Rights Activists News Agency, based in the US, says more than 7,000 people were killed.
Iran became an Islamic republic in 1979. AFP
