Pro-regime forces given ‘blank check’ to slaughter Iranian protesters

Iran’s leaders reportedly gave pro-regime security forces a carte blanche to use deadly force during a massive two-day crackdown on protesters to instill fear among dissidents and stave off the regime’s collapse.

By World Israel News Staff

The highest echelon of Iran’s leadership gave pro-regime security forces a “blank check” for the indiscriminate use of lethal force against dissident protesters last month, in the hopes that large-scale killings would stoke fear among the protest movement and enable the government to retain control over the country, Iran International reported over the weekend.

The report cited a source familiar with talks inside the Iranian government who said that ahead of the massive crackdown on protesters from January 8-9, a senior regime official gave security personnel authority to use deadly force against protesters.

The instructions were reportedly issued during a closed-door meeting.

The source said the senior official gave security forces “full authority and a blank check to attack, with the aim of creating maximum fear to deter the resurgence of protests.”

The order to use lethal force did not distinguish between unarmed civilian protesters and armed dissidents, the source said.

The Iranian government’s stated death toll for the protests, from the end of December on, stands at less than 3,000 – a figure that has been widely disputed by dissidents, healthcare providers, and other sources.

The Human Rights Activists News Agency (HRANA) has received reports of more than 18,000 deaths, confirming 6,842 thus far, while other estimates range as high as 40,000, with the vast majority of fatalities occurring between January 8-9.

After the two-day crackdown, senior commanders from the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps alluded to the use of indiscriminate deadly force to demoralize and frighten critics of the regime, using slogans such as “victory through terror,” the source told Iran International.

“Fight them until there is no more sedition,” IRGC officials were reported as saying.

While the IRGC’s Basij militia played a central role in the crackdown, Iran reportedly also employed large numbers of non-Iranian personnel, including forces trained by the IRGC’s Quds Force from Chechnya, Iraq, Pakistan, and Sudan.

Hundreds of Shi’ite militia members from multiple Iranian-backed groups in Iraq are said to have crossed into Iran at various border crossings in order to bolster the regime.