Iran taking steps to prevent anti-establishment protests, Tehran residents tell BBC

BBC Persian

Iran is taking steps to prevent anti-establishment protests, with checkpoints appearing across the streets of the capital, internet access restricted, and mass text warnings sent to residents.

In Tehran, people have been telling the BBC about new security checkpoints around the city, where they say residents are stopped and searched.

They have told BBC Persian that some checkpoints are positioned under footbridges and inside road tunnels, after reports that drone strikes had targeted several checkpoints in the middle of roads.

A number of Iranian security personnel were killed in Israeli strikes on four checkpoints across Tehran, the hardline Fars News Agency reported on 11 March.

Fars said unofficial counts indicated that around 10 members of the security forces were killed in strikes in four districts of the capital.

Speaking to the BBC, a man in his twenties explained his strategy for getting through a checkpoint, where he said he was once stopped and his car was searched.

"I started saying things like, 'Thanks for your hard work,' as if they were genuinely putting in a lot of effort and I appreciated it," he said.

Security forces let him go after the search.

"I always wear colourful clothes. But now I don't," said a woman, also in her twenties. "I'm scared of their patrols, worried that if I wear something too bright it might annoy them."

Restricted internet hinders coordination

Another man, also in his twenties, sells secure internet connections to some people, allowing them to bypass the government-imposed nationwide blackout.

It is still very difficult to contact those inside Iran during the internet outage that has been in place since the start of the war. Still, tech-savvy residents have been using SpaceX's Starlink devices and sharing their connection with others.

Restricting internet access not only limits communication with the outside world but also limits protesters' ability to mobilise, plan, and communicate among themselves. Encrypted messaging apps and platforms often function as tools for organising rallies, sharing protest locations, and circulating calls to action.

When these platforms are unavailable, coordination becomes far more difficult.

The man selling internet connections tells the BBC of his fear when a taxi he was travelling in passed through a checkpoint in a tunnel in Tehran.

"What I do as a job is considered a crime in the Islamic Republic," he explains. "I was really worried, because I had my laptop and phone with me."

"Luckily, they didn't search the taxi," he says.

Iranian police have arrested a person in southern Fars Province over allegedly setting up a network to sell "unfiltered" internet via Starlink, according to a report by semi-official Mehr News Agency on 12 March.

Deputy Commander of the Fars Province Police has said that a 37-year-old man who had "set up a network across several provinces of the country to sell unfiltered internet via Starlink has been arrested, and added that a "Starlink device and related equipment were discovered at the suspect's hideout".

Using Starlink in Iran carries a punishment of up to 2 years in prison, and authorities have reportedly been searching for Starlink dishes to prevent people from connecting to the internet.

Government spokesperson Fatemeh Mohajerani said on 10 March that the authorities were working to restore internet access "for those who can broadcast the country's voice to the world". - Read more here: https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/clygdwqw5dvo

Additional reporting by Behrang Tajdin, BBC Persian