Iran’s leaders are continuing to promise harsh punishments for “rioters” who were detained during recent nationwide demonstrations as they exchange barbs with US President Donald Trump in a continuing digital blackout.
In a post on X on Monday, judiciary chief Gholam-Hossein Mohseni-Ejei wrote, “Our main work at the judiciary has just begun.”
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He claimed that if we treat someone who is not deserving of leniency with impunity, we have violated the law.
His remarks came as the majority of Iranians are still completely unconnected, despite a brief period of partial reconnection on Sunday.
Ejei also met with parliamentarian Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf and president Masoud Pezeshkian, who both promised punishment.
They said “murderers and terrorist seditionists” will face immediate punishment in a joint statement released by state media, and that those who were “tricked” by foreign powers could benefit from “Islamic compassion” shown by authorities.
President Trump stated to reporters last week that Iran had “canceled the hanging of over 800 people.” He said at the White House, “I greatly respect the fact that they canceled.
Trump had warned the US of its possibility of attacking Iran a few days prior, but he had earlier issued a few days before that the country’s president had reportedly ordered mass killings.
The US and Israel have been accused of funding and arming the protests by Iranian authorities on numerous occasions.
Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, Iran’s supreme leader, admitted on Saturday that “many thousands” of people had been killed during the demonstrations, but that the theocratic establishment claimed that foreign powers, rather than state forces, were directly to blame.
Since the protests were allegedly started by shopkeepers in Tehran’s downtown on December 28, thousands have been detained, according to state authorities, who almost daily release new arrests.
An undetermined number of members of a “terrorist team” that had allegedly entered Iran through its western frontiers were detained in Tehran, according to the intelligence ministry on Monday.
More arrests have been made in Kerman, Isfahan, Mazandaran, Shiraz, Bandar Anzali, according to state media, who claimed among other targets that the targets were “leaders of riots” who allegedly committed violent crimes against government buildings and mosques.
The country’s hardline chief of police, Ahmadreza Radan, stated on Monday that “tricked” protesters “have three days to turn themselves in so they can receive reduced sentences.
He continued, “We have made a promise to the people to detain the rioters and terrorists until the last person,” noting that many of those detained have already made” confessions about committing crimes like murder and looting.
In recent days, state television has broadcast dozens of people’s confessions with blurred-out faces, continuing a practice that has endured for many years despite receiving national criticism.
Iranian authorities have also emphasized that they intend to seize the belongings of those who publicly supported or participated in the protests in order to make up for some of the financial losses sustained during the protests.
According to Mohammad Movahedi Azad, the hardline cleric who leads the prosecutor general’s authority, “the damages of recent riots must be demanded from the backers of the monarchy sedition” and these people must be held accountable.
All of the assets of a major businessman, including a number of renowned cafes across the nation and several top food brands, were seized, according to the Fars News Agency, which is a member of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC). Approximately half of the assets’ total value is thought to be comparable to the amount of damages incurred in Tehran.
Voria Ghafouri, a well-known former football player who was detained in 2022 for supporting previous national protests, had his cafe taken as well.
Trump threatens to “cross the red line.”
Trump demanded Iranians to “take control” of “government institutions” at the height of the protests, before expressing “great respect” for the Iranian leadership on the grounds that more than 800 political prisoners’ planned hangings had been postponed.
However, on Saturday, Trump claimed that the Islamic Republic’s 37-year rule in Khamenei should be overturned, prompting some of its most powerful figures to fire back.
The Guardian Council, a powerful 12-member constitutional watchdog that must approve legislation before it becomes law, condemned the “intense and baseless rhetoric” of the criminal and foolish “US president,” in a statement released by state media.
The council emphasized that any violation of the Islamic Republic of Iran’s “red line” will result in high costs and serious consequences for the country’s citizens.
Trump “used all of his non-existent credibility to create chaos, insecurity, and killings in Iran,” according to Ghalibaf, the parliament’s chief, during a public hearing on Monday.
Internet blackout continues to exist.
Hossein Afshin, the Iranian president’s deputy for scientific affairs, also stated to reporters on Monday that internet restrictions would gradually “be lifted,” but he did not provide any additional details.
The establishment may be testing ways to more forcefully impose its controlled digital blackout of the Iranian population, according to NetBlocks and other international monitors.
The top mobile and internet service provider Irancell, one of the nation’s top mobile and internet companies, was replaced by a new CEO, according to state media on Monday.
According to the Tasnim news agency, which is also affiliated with the IRGC, some of Irancell’s operators resisted the order to “restrict communications” on January 8 for several hours. That night saw the sudden shut-down of all mobile communications, including the internet, at a previously unthinkable rate.
The reformist Ham-Mihan daily newspaper was taken on Monday, according to state media, with the confiscation of two reports citing the protests as the cause.
Source: Aljazeera
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