{"id":348827,"date":"2026-10-17T20:02:30","date_gmt":"2026-10-17T19:02:30","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.ncr-iran.org\/en\/?p=348827"},"modified":"2026-10-17T20:02:30","modified_gmt":"2026-10-17T19:02:30","slug":"irans-regime-revives-coup-narrative-as-fear-of-renewed-unrest-collides-with-economic-and-factional-pressure","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.ncr-iran.org\/en\/news\/economy\/irans-regime-revives-coup-narrative-as-fear-of-renewed-unrest-collides-with-economic-and-factional-pressure\/","title":{"rendered":"Iran’s Regime Revives \u201cCoup\u201d Narrative as Fear of Renewed Unrest Collides with Economic and Factional Pressure"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"Iran-economy\"
A man searches through a roadside garbage bin in Iran<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

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

Iran\u2019s security apparatus is still pursuing participants in last winter\u2019s protests, an indication that the regime continues to regard the unrest as an unresolved threat. On October 17, the Ilam Intelligence Directorate announced the arrest<\/a> of 11 people in Malekshahi, accusing them of operating in three groups, firing at security forces and a police station, directing protesters, damaging government property and possessing weapons. It branded them American-Israeli \u201cmercenaries\u201d and described the December protests as a \u201ccoup.\u201d ISNA and Tasnim carried the accusations, but neither report provided evidence establishing foreign direction, and authorities did not disclose the detainees\u2019 identities, detention locations or access to lawyers.<\/p>\n

The terminology is politically revealing because Malekshahi and nearby Abdanan<\/a> were among the places where the regime briefly lost effective street control during the January 2026 uprising. That precedent helps explain the security apparatus\u2019s continuing fixation months later. By recasting the unrest as a foreign-backed \u201ccoup,\u201d arresting alleged participants, and expanding neighborhood surveillance, the regime appears intent on preventing those towns from becoming a rallying precedent for future uprisings elsewhere.<\/p>\n

Hardliners turn on rival insiders<\/h2>\n

Fear of pressure from below is coinciding with increasingly bitter conflict at the top. Kayhan editor Hossein Shariatmadari, Khamenei\u2019s representative at the newspaper, attacked Mohammad-Javad Zarif and Mohammad Khatami in unusually accusatory terms, writing that although<\/a> the United States has no embassy in Iran it has \u201cdozens of ambassadors\u201d among Iranians advancing positions favorable to Washington. He accused Zarif of presenting \u201csurrender\u201d as \u201chonorable peace.\u201d<\/p>\n

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Two more security personnel killed in Sistan-Baluchestan as Iran\u2019s working-class subsistence basket hits 91.3 million tomans. Minimum wage now covers only ~8 days of household expenses\u2014down from 15 in March. Regime calls the #economy<\/a> \u201cresilient.\u201d
By @MansoreGolestan<\/a>\u2026<\/p>\n

— NCRI-FAC (@iran_policy) October 14, 2026<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n