Iran’s Internal Repression Intensifies Under Global Scrutiny
By Manu Shrivastava
The State, long accused of stifling dissent and orchestrating widespread censorship, has intensified its crackdown on journalists, civil society actors, and political dissidents under the guise of safeguarding national security. The veil of wartime urgency, it would appear, has served well to mask a more sinister domestic agenda.
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| Image for representational purpose only |
At the forefront of the State’s suppressive measures lies the deliberate targeting of journalists—those whose voices, when left unrestrained, have historically challenged the monolithic narrative of the regime.
In recent months, independent media professionals have been arrested under charges of “propaganda against the State” and “collaboration with hostile foreign networks.” Trials, if held, are perfunctory and often closed-door, with convictions delivered swiftly and sentencing unapologetically severe.
The recent arrest of a prominent Tehran-based journalist, known for her coverage of human rights violations, sent ripples across international newsrooms. Her “crime” – covering a protest against mandatory hijab laws and quoting a family member of an executed dissident – underscores the absurd fragility of press freedom in contemporary Iran. State media, meanwhile, continues to parrot the official line, casting all dissent as sedition orchestrated by Western intelligence agencies.
If journalism is being silenced in newsrooms, the Iranian populace at large faces an equally stifling muzzle in cyberspace. Internet access—already heavily filtered through government firewalls—has been further curtailed through bandwidth throttling, outright shutdowns, and the blocking of popular social media platforms.
Encrypted messaging apps, once a lifeline for protestors and journalists alike, have become the new battleground for surveillance. The Iranian cyber police, now emboldened by emergency wartime mandates, detain netizens for innocuous acts such as liking a foreign journalist’s tweet or reposting protest footage. VPN usage, a common workaround, has been criminalised in practice if not explicitly by law, with arrests rising steadily over alleged “cyber subversion.”
In a nation of nearly 90 million, the attempt to digitally sever citizens from the global discourse is less about shielding them from misinformation and more about stifling any semblance of resistance or organisation. The regime, it appears, is acutely aware of the revolutionary potential of shared truth in an age of connectivity.
Perhaps the most chilling development is the recent uptick in executions carried out under espionage or “corruption on earth” charges. These judicial killings—often meted out to political dissidents, ethnic minority activists, and accused spies—serve less as a deterrent and more as a brutal spectacle of power.
The execution of a dual national, allegedly for spying for a Western nation, drew widespread condemnation from the international community. Yet, within Iran, the event was broadcast as a triumph of national vigilance. Analysts suggest that the regime seeks to signal both inward and outward: domestically, to dissuade dissent; globally, to assert its autonomy in the face of mounting pressure.
This weaponisation of the judiciary—a phenomenon not new to Iran—has become particularly acute amidst the chaos of external conflict. In many cases, confessions are reportedly extracted under duress, trials lack legal representation for the accused, and the line between judiciary and executive blurs fatally.
The crackdown is not merely legal or digital; it is psychological. A culture of fear is being cemented—slowly but deliberately—across Iranian society. Parents warn children to avoid speaking their minds at school. University students are expelled for participating in peaceful rallies. Artists are arrested for “insulting Islamic values” through their work. Every act of expression is policed not just by the State but by the internalised fear of its wrath.
State-sanctioned morality patrols—revived in full force—ensure that even the personal becomes political. The hijab, the beard, the slogan, the silence—all are read as signs of allegiance or rebellion.
While the world watches Iran’s external engagements with bated breath—from its influence over Hezbollah and the Houthis to its nuclear ambitions—the internal cost borne by its citizens receives far less sustained attention. Western governments, quick to condemn human rights violations in multilateral forums, often hesitate to act meaningfully for fear of derailing tenuous diplomatic tracks or oil trade interests.
And so, within Iran, the regime’s machinery hums on—spurred by global distraction, emboldened by crisis, and lubricated by a silenced populace. Conflict, as history often reminds, is a convenient smokescreen. In Iran today, it masks a theatre of repression where justice is performed and fear is enforced.
