Iranian authorities have seemingly succeeded, for the time being, in quelling nationwide anti-government protests after a brutal crackdown left more than 2,000 protesters dead.
Human rights organizations and witnesses have reported little protest activity inside major population centers in Iran, which had been rocked by days of massive demonstrations by anti-government protesters.
Norway-based human rights organization Hengaw reported Friday that Iran has maintained a massive military and police presence in most cities where major protests had taken place and even in areas where there were relatively fewer protests.
Iranian state media reported on Friday that it had conducted several successful waves of arrests of alleged protest leaders in the provinces of Kerman and Kermanshah. Iran’s top police official asserted on Thursday that security forces had restored stability across the country.
“By God’s grace and with the conscious presence of the people, the last nail was driven into the coffin of terrorism,” Brigadier Gen. Ahmadreza Radan was quoted in state-affiliated media.
Still, sporadic demonstrations have occurred, with state-affiliated media reporting that protesters destroyed an education office in Isfahan Province on Thursday evening.
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The relative quiet in Iran follows over two weeks of massive anti-government demonstrations all around Iran. What began as small-scale protests in Tehran reacting to Iran’s failing currency quickly expanded into every province, with many protesters calling for the end of the Islamic republic.
By all accounts, Iranian authorities reacted violently to the protests, with reports indicating that security forces fired automatic weapons into crowds of protesters and conducted mass arrest operations.
An ongoing internet blackout in Iran makes verifying exact casualty figures difficult. However, the U.S.-based human rights organization Human Rights Activist News Agency has reported that as many as 2,677 people may have been killed, including security personnel.
The violent reaction led to threats of military intervention by President Trump, who warned Iranian authorities earlier this month to stop killing protesters or face U.S. strikes. That rhetoric reached a fever pitch earlier this week after reports indicated Iran was preparing to execute an arrested prisoner.
On Wednesday, Mr. Trump announced that he had been informed that Iran had decided to halt the executions, though it remains unclear where he received his information. White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt confirmed Thursday Iran had officially halted the executions of 800 prisoners but said Mr. Trump was monitoring the situation and would not take any option, including military action, off the table.
U.S. partners in the Middle East, including Israel, Oman, Saudi Arabia and Qatar, had reportedly rushed to dissuade the U.S. from launching military strikes on Iran this week, fearing that it could expand into a wide regional conflict.
The Pentagon, seemingly in preparation for a retaliatory strike from Iran, began moving select personnel from the Udeid Air Base in Qatar, which houses some 10,000 military members. Iran had launched a strike on the base last year at the end of its 12-day war with Israel after U.S. forces bombed three of Iran’s nuclear enrichment sites.
• Vaughn Cockayne can be reached at vcockayne@washingtontimes.com.
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