As anti-regime protests in Iran continue into fourth day, security forces ramp up suppression with arrests and tear gas

Despite the protests being the largest in three years, Kasra Aarabi and Saeid Golkar from the think tank United Against Nuclear Iran wrote on X that IRGC sources said the regime has so far only issued a “yellow” threat level in response to the protests. . . . “Since 2007, the regime has built a vast suppressive network across all levels of Iranian society—largely ignored by foreign powers and the opposition. This extensive apparatus’s interventions are guided by the threat levels,” Aarabi wrote. He went on to describe the security forces at the disposal of the Revolutionary Guard, noting they are “the biggest roadblock to regime change in Iran.” “It has brutally & successfully suppressed protests in Iran. The weakening of this apparatus is critical to bringing change in Iran. It was largely left unscathed in the 12-day war,“ Aarabi added.