Two-minute read
On July 2, 2025, Iran’s Ministry of Intelligence, through its affiliated Mehr News Agency, made a revealing admission. It publicly complained that the People’s Mojahedin Organization of Iran (PMOI) had tasked its internal “Resistance Units” with a new mission: purchasing small loudspeakers to broadcast protest chants such as “Death to the Dictator” and “Death to Khamenei.” The goal, according to the intelligence ministry’s outlet, was to use these protest sounds to “drown out the voice of great national unity.”
This public acknowledgment highlights the clerical regime’s profound insecurity. The regime’s response was not limited to media complaints. It has manifested in a massive, nationwide security mobilization, exposing a leadership that is increasingly fearful of its own people and the organized opposition that amplifies their voice.
A Panicked Overreaction: Turning Neighborhoods into Garrisons
The regime’s overreaction to these acts of defiance materialized in a sweeping new security project. On June 3, 2025, state media announced a “meeting to review the neighborhood-based management model,” ostensibly for social welfare purposes like “reducing inequality.” However, the meeting’s attendees exposed its true security-focused nature. Present were President Masoud Pezeshkian, the IRGC Commander, the Interior Minister, and Basij commanders. Conspicuously absent were the economic and social ministers who would be essential for any genuine public service initiative.
#Tehran’s Deep-Rooted Fear of the @Mojahedineng https://t.co/WcA9GUGo6j
— NCRI-FAC (@iran_policy) June 2, 2025
The plan explicitly aims to consolidate control “around the Basij,” with the IRGC Commander pledging the force’s 64,000 bases to the effort. This initiative is a clear attempt to transform Iran’s cities and towns into “cell-based” control zones under the absolute authority of the regime’s security forces. As stated in reports on the plan, its primary goal is to confront the defiant generation embodied by the PMOI Resistance Units.
Official Admissions of an Existential Threat
Senior officials have left little doubt that these security measures are a direct reaction to the organized opposition. In Bojnurd, the city’s Friday prayer leader recently expressed panic over the opposition’s activities. He demanded that the judiciary “deal with the hypocrites (a pejorative term for the PMOI) in the strongest possible way,” and insisted that “all of them must be arrested.” This public call for mass arrests underscores the regime’s view of the resistance as an existential threat that must be stamped out.
This fear is echoed in the contradictory messaging of top officials. On June 28, Attorney General Mohammad Movahedi issued a statement claiming that “the Islamic system stands against its enemies more powerful than ever,” while in the same breath warning that “the enemies today… are seeking the destruction of this system.” Such paradoxical statements reveal a leadership attempting to project strength while simultaneously grappling with deep-seated paranoia about its own survival.
The MEK’s Growing Influence Sparks Iran Regime’s Fear and Desperationhttps://t.co/2cUTDRbhXp
— NCRI-FAC (@iran_policy) May 23, 2023
A Plea for Surrender That Reveals Utter Weakness
The regime’s desperation culminated not in a show of force, but in a bizarre plea for surrender. In his June 28 statement, the Attorney General called on those who have “fallen into the trap of the Mojahedin” to “voluntarily turn themselves in to benefit from legal leniency.”
This is not the language of a stable, confident government in command of its nation. It is the plea of a terrified clique that recognizes it is losing control over the narrative and the streets. The fact that small loudspeakers broadcasting chants of defiance could trigger a nationwide security overhaul and public pleas for surrender is a testament to the brittle nature of the dictatorship. This new wave of suppression is the final, failing gambit of a regime staring into the abyss, haunted by the very sounds of the freedom it has long tried to silence.