Iran rounds up thousands in mass arrest campaign after crushing unrest, sources say
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A mural seen in a Tehran street on Jan 29 featuring Iranian soldiers, near an anti-US and anti-Israel billboard.
PHOTO: EPA
- Iranian security forces made mass arrests and used intimidation to suppress protests after the bloodiest unrest since 1979; internet access was cut off.
- HRANA reports 6,373 deaths (including 5,993 protesters) and 42,486 arrests; officials warn of death sentences for sabotage and armed clashes.
- Detainees are held in unofficial sites; families lack information leading to fear; doctors helping wounded protesters face arrest.
AI generated
DUBAI – 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 in December in Tehran’s Grand Bazaar over economic hardship unleashed long-suppressed wider grievances and swiftly escalated into the gravest existential threat to Iran’s Shi’ite theocracy in nearly five decades, with protesters commonly calling for ruling clerics to step down.
The authorities cut internet access
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 towards the country
On Jan 28, however, he 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 one day of air strikes in June 2025
Multiple Western and Middle Eastern sources told Reuters this week that Mr 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 rulers.
Round-ups include past accused
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
Judiciary officials have warned that “those committing sabotage, burning public property and involved in armed clashes with security forces” could face death sentences.
People protesting in Brussels, Belgium, against the Iranian government on Jan 29.
PHOTO: EPA
Unofficial detention centres
Two Iranian officials, speaking on condition of anonymity, confirmed to Reuters that thousands of arrests had been made 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 unrest-related detainees were held. The authorities said on Jan 21 that 3,117 were killed in the unrest, including 2,427 civilians and security personnel.
Amnesty International reported on Jan 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 north-western 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.”
Families frantic
More than 60 per cent of Iran’s 92 million people are under the age of 30. Although the latest protests were snuffed out by the security forces, 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 the authorities or warned against helping injured demonstrators.
Prison authorities denied holding wounded protesters.
“They have arrested many doctors and nurses who helped wounded protesters... They are arresting everyone,” said one of the doctors.
Families of five detainees told Reuters 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 arrested.
“They took my child as if they were arresting a terrorist. My child protested because all young people (just) want to have a better life. My child is a young person who only took part in protests.” REUTERS
