Israel Targets Iran's Protest-Crackdown Forces With New Airstrikes

Israel is striking Iran’s internal security apparatus in an effort to weaken the regime’s ability to suppress dissent and potentially open the door to a popular uprising, according to the Wall Street Journal.

Israeli airstrikes on Wednesday targeted figures and facilities tied to domestic repression, including members of the Basij paramilitary and senior intelligence officials, the Israeli military said. Israel and the U.S. have also hit internal-security institutions such as the Tehran headquarters of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC), which plays a central role in protecting the regime.

The IRGC and Basij led the violent crackdown on antigovernment protests in January, when security forces fired on demonstrators and killed thousands. Police and intelligence agencies also detained large numbers of protesters.

Israeli officials say the goal is to weaken Iran’s coercive apparatus from the air so citizens can challenge the government on the ground. Analysts caution that airpower alone may not bring down the regime.

“If the bet is that airstrikes will finish the job from above while Iranians complete it from below, it’s a bet that rests on no clear historical model,” said Ali Vaez of the International Crisis Group. “It also ignores the resilience of entrenched authoritarian systems like the Islamic Republic.”

The Wall Street Journal writes that recent strikes targeted dozens of internal security facilities, including the IRGC’s Tharallah headquarters, which coordinates intelligence, policing and Basij units during unrest. Israeli jets also hit the police special-units command, Faraja, responsible for riot control. Iran later confirmed the death of Faraja intelligence chief Golamreza Rezaian.

“These bodies were responsible for, among other things, suppressing protests against the regime through violent measures and civilian arrests,” the Israeli military said.

Joint U.S.-Israeli operations have also focused on western Iran’s Kurdish regions, long known as opposition strongholds. Rights groups reported strikes on police and detention sites in the Kurdish city of Sanandaj.

The conflict comes amid growing unrest inside Iran driven by economic hardship, political grievances and anger over the January killings. More than 7,000 people have died in the unrest, according to Human Rights Activists in Iran.

Still, the government retains a near monopoly on weapons across most of the country, and Basij patrols continue. Civilian casualties from the conflict—over 1,000 so far, including 180 children—could also strengthen hardline support for the regime.

Former President Donald Trump has urged Iranian security forces to defect. “I urge the IRGC, Iranian military, police to lay down your arms and receive full immunity or face certain death,” he said Sunday. “It will be certain death.”