Iran on high alert before Mahsa Amini death’s anniversary

Authorities in Iran’s southwest have arrested six people accused of “organizing riots” on the first anniversary of Mahsa Amini’s death in custody which triggered nationwide protests, state media reported Saturday.

The intelligence organization of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) in Kohgiluyeh and Boyerahmad province suspended five social media pages and arrested the six individuals behind them, it said according to official news agency IRNA.

IRGC accused them of “organizing riots and driving insecurity on the Internet,” the statement said without identifying the suspects.

Security measures in Iran have been heightened in anticipation of the anniversary of Mahsa Amini's death, as activists and civic groups have called for mass rallies.

Sources report that regime agents have set up nighttime checkpoints amid a significant buildup of security forces in city centers.

These measures include enhanced protection for government buildings, a substantial increase in law enforcement personnel, and plainclothes motorcycle patrols, according to eyewitness accounts.

The regime has also erected numerous banners in major city centers warning citizens of severe penalties for dress code violations, seemingly as a deliberate effort to instill fear and discourage potential protests.

Demonstrations across Iran in the months that followed Amini’s death saw hundreds of people killed, including dozens of security personnel, and thousands arrested in connection with what officials labeled as foreign-instigated “riots.”