Iran's national police chief Ahmad-Reza Radan warns he will treat anti-government protesters as enemies

Iran's national police chief Ahmad-Reza Radan warned that anti-government protesters who align with Tehran's external adversaries will no longer be treated as demonstrators but as enemies, and vowed the security forces would respond accordingly.

“Iranian protesters will be treated as enemies if they support Tehran's foes, the country's top police officer warned, as the West Asia war sparked fears mass anti-government rallies could reignite”

The Hindu

Radan's remarks, broadcast on state television, included the lines: "If anyone comes forward in line with the wishes of the enemy, we will no longer see them as merely a protester, we will see them as an enemy," and "And we will do to them what we do to an enemy. We will deal with them in the same way we deal with enemies."

The Hindu

He also stressed readiness, stating security forces were prepared to defend the revolution "with their hands on the trigger."

Radan's statement follows the Iranian government's crackdown on nationwide protests that erupted in January after earlier demonstrations over economic grievances, which authorities described as "riots" and said at times required protesters to surrender or face force.

All three outlets link the warning to that earlier unrest: they note the January crackdown, the economic roots of the demonstrations, and Radan's prior ultimatum calling on protesters to hand themselves in or face the full force of the law.

The New Region

Reporting from the three outlets highlights starkly different tallies of casualties and detentions: Iranian authorities acknowledge more than 3,000 deaths during the unrest, while the U.S.-based Human Rights Activists News Agency (HRANA) has recorded over 7,000 killings and more than 50,000 arrests, a disparity the outlets present as indicating the true toll may be far higher.

“ERBIL, Kurdistan Region of Iraq – Iranian protesters will be treated as “enemies” if they support the enemies of Tehran, the country’s police chief warned late Tuesday, after the Islamic republic cracked down on nationwide demonstrations in January”

The New Region

Sources emphasize that the larger HRANA figure mainly counts protesters and that the overall numbers remain contested.

State authorities have framed the protests as externally driven and criminal, labeling demonstrators "terrorist elements" and foreign plots, and the judiciary has warned there will be "no leniency" for those seen as acting against national security.

The outlets report officials' repeated insistence that the unrest was fuelled by Iran's enemies, and that security forces are on high alert to treat any collaboration with external adversaries as a security crime rather than political protest.

WION

Outlets situate Radan's warning within an intensifying regional context: reporting notes U.S. and Israeli military action and consequent Iranian retaliation, and suggests Tehran's domestic posture is influenced by external hostilities.

“Iran's top police commander has warned that demonstrators who support Tehran’s adversaries during the ongoing war will be treated as enemies of the state”

WION

One outlet records that Washington "launched strikes with Israel on Iran on February 28, sparking retaliatory strikes by Tehran against Israel and U.S. bases across the Gulf region," while others flag growing regional tensions as part of why Iranian security organs say they're on heightened alert.

The Hindu