{"id":343414,"date":"2026-03-10T18:01:10","date_gmt":"2026-03-10T17:01:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.ncr-iran.org\/en\/?p=343414"},"modified":"2026-03-10T18:01:10","modified_gmt":"2026-03-10T17:01:10","slug":"as-tehran-weakens-iranian-authorities-turn-inward-with-threats-checkpoints-and-a-show-of-force","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.ncr-iran.org\/en\/news\/as-tehran-weakens-iranian-authorities-turn-inward-with-threats-checkpoints-and-a-show-of-force\/","title":{"rendered":"As Tehran Weakens, Iranian Authorities Turn Inward With Threats, Checkpoints and a Show of Force"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"iran
Security forces confront residents during unrest in Torbat-e Jam, northeastern Iran, as authorities move to suppress protests amid rising economic pressures \u2014 January 16, 2023<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Three-minute read<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

Iran\u2019s rulers, visibly weakened by war, the reported death of Ali Khamenei, and the loss of senior commanders, are sharpening their rhetoric not only against foreign enemies but against their own population. The message coming from the state is increasingly clear: this is not only a military confrontation abroad, but a moment in which any public dissent at home will be treated as a security threat.<\/p>\n

That posture was laid out on March 6, 2026, when police commander Ahmad-Reza Radan said<\/a> border forces were fully equipped, \u201cready and finger on the trigger,\u201d and prepared to crush any \u201cplot\u201d at the borders or inside the cities. He also said police and Basij forces were active in urban areas and that those accused of disturbing public opinion online were being dealt with \u201cdecisively.\u201d On the same day, Sadegh Amoli Larijani called on military and police forces to act with \u201cgreater authority\u201d so that no opening for the regime\u2019s enemies would remain.<\/p>\n

The harder line is unfolding at a moment of unusual vulnerability for the state. On March 10, Iranian authorities announced<\/a> funeral ceremonies in Tehran for some of the senior commanders and officials killed in the war, including Abdolrahim Mousavi, Mohammad Pakpour, Ali Shamkhani, Aziz Nasirzadeh and Mohammad Shirazi. The public staging of those funerals is meant to project continuity and resolve. But it also underlines the scale of the losses the regime has sustained.<\/p>\n

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Facing an increasingly explosive society, the Iranian regime has ramped up its rhetoric to signal a \u201cfirm\u201d crackdown on any signs of #IranProtests<\/a>. Judicial and military officials are currently using the pretext of regional conflict to justify aggressive internal suppression,\u2026<\/p>\n

— NCRI-FAC (@iran_policy) March 6, 2026<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n