Iran warns protesters supporting foreign enemies will be treated as ‘enemies’

Iran’s national police chief, Ahmad-Reza Radan, has warned that protesters who support countries considered hostile to Tehran will be treated as enemies of the state.

Radan issued the warning in comments aired late Tuesday by the state broadcaster IRIB, amid fears that the ongoing Middle East conflict could trigger renewed anti-government demonstrations in Iran.

“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,” Radan said.

“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,” he added.

The police chief also declared that security forces were on high alert.

“All our forces are ready, with their hands on the trigger, prepared to defend their revolution,” he said.

The warning follows a government crackdown on anti-government protests earlier this year that were sparked by economic grievances in the sanctions-hit country.

Iranian authorities described the demonstrations as “riots” and had earlier warned protesters to surrender or face the full force of the law.

Official figures from Tehran say more than 3,000 people died during the unrest, including members of the security forces and bystanders, with authorities blaming the violence on what they called “terrorist acts” backed by foreign enemies.

However, the United States-based Human Rights Activists News Agency (HRANA) estimates that more than 7,000 people may have been killed during the crackdown, the majority of them protesters, while over 50,000 people were reportedly arrested.

The tensions come as the United States and Israel launched strikes on Iran on February 28, prompting retaliatory attacks by Tehran against Israel and US bases across the Gulf region, further escalating the regional conflict.