By Asqar Karimi – 11 March 2026
Ahmad Reza Radan, the regime’s Chief of Police, has said:
“At present the streets, alleys, squares and public spaces are under the control of the police forces, the Special Units, the Emergency Units and the Basij forces. We have officially announced that if anyone, at the request of the enemy, tries to carry out any action in the cities, we will no longer regard them as protesters but will treat them as enemies.”
The regime is so terrified of the internal enemy that even in the midst of war it does not forget to threaten and try to control it. The regime’s fear of the people forms the basis of its policies. Even its refusal to retreat on the nuclear and missile programmes was, before anything else, driven by fear of the people — fear that people would see surrender and weakness and once again rise up. The selection of Mojtaba Khamenei as leader is likewise an attempt to preserve the regime and to signal the continuation of the same policy of repression and denial of rights to the people. They know that this war will eventually end, while the regime will remain facing a society that is far more rebellious and enraged — and a regime that is weakened and without Ali Khamenei.
Radan openly expressed his fear of the people:
“The police and Basij forces have joined hands to prevent the enemy’s agents from carrying out activities in the cities — especially in the capital — after each attack.”
This is the core of the regime’s nightmare.
Radan also referred to thieves in his remarks, attempting to portray them as aligned with the people. But the people know very well who the real thieves are: those in the Leader’s office, in parliament, the billionaire ayatollahs, the privileged offspring of the ruling elite, and the other officials who have looted public wealth and destroyed people’s lives over the past 47 years.
Radan’s statements — along with those of another commander who a few days earlier told parents that “we are authorised to open fire against the people” — once again reveal more clearly than ever the complete alienation and hostility of this regime toward the people. Even under bombardment, the government continues to show the world and the governments of Israel and the United States that the people are not with it, but rather are the targets of repression and gunfire.
How the war will end is not yet clear. But one thing is absolutely clear: the people see the Islamic Republic as the cause of all their suffering, the war and the hardships it has brought. Despite all the regime’s crimes, massacres and executions, they have never made peace or a ceasefire with it. On the contrary, they have openly declared: we will stand until the end.
Neither Radan and the other criminals in power, nor the tens of millions of protesting people, have any doubt about this.
