Ali Khamenei waves to the crowd during a meeting with officials, Islamic countries' ambassador to Iran and a group of people in Tehran, Iran, Monday, March 31, 2025. (Office of the Iranian Supreme Leader via AP)
Ayatollah Ali Khamenei ordered the country’s intelligence and military networks to adopt their most intense alert posture yet, exceeding even 2025’s ‘Operation Rising Lion.’
By Vered Weiss, World Israel News
Iran entered an unusually high state of internal readiness on Saturday as its security forces confronted expanding protests and a sharp rise in nationwide arrests.
The Telegraph reported that Ayatollah Ali Khamenei ordered the country’s intelligence and military networks to adopt their most intense alert posture yet, exceeding even 2025’s “Operation Rising Lion.”
According to the British outlet, Tehran activated parts of its underground missile infrastructure at the same time.
One Iranian figure told the newspaper that Khamenei “will not leave Tehran even if B-52s are flying overhead,” and another said the supreme leader is now relying primarily on the IRGC because he views the risk of defections in the conventional army and police as far higher.
Friday’s operations inside Iran produced one of the largest single-day arrest totals since the current wave of demonstrations began.
More than 2,277 people were detained, including 166 minors and 48 university students, The Telegraph reported.
TIME magazine said at least 217 protesters in Tehran were killed on Thursday, most by live ammunition.
President Donald Trump responded late Friday with a direct warning to the Iranian leadership. He said the regime is in “big trouble” and cautioned that “better not start shooting because we’ll start shooting too.” He added that demonstrators appear to be taking control of urban areas “that nobody thought were really possible just a few weeks ago.”
On Friday night, Iran’s Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei accused protesters of “ruining their own streets to make the president of another country happy,” referring to President Trump.
In a televised address, the 86-year-old leader added, “Trump should know that world tyrants such as Pharaoh, Nimrod, Reza Shah and Mohammad Reza were brought down at the peak of their arrogance. He too will be brought down.” He insisted the Islamic Republic “will not back down.”
The exiled Crown Prince, Reza Pahlavi, encouraged Iranians to protest on Thursday and Friday night and on Saturday, encouraged them to advance into central urban areas and hold those positions.
In a message on X, he further appealed to “workers and employees in key sectors of the economy, especially transportation, oil, gas, and energy” to begin a widespread strike aimed at limiting the regime’s capacity to react.
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