A breakdown of the forces behind the crackdown in Iran, from police to paramilitaries to the Revolutionary Guard.

Iran is boiling over again, and ruling regime is ruthlessly crushing dissent. CBS News reported on January 13, that as many as 20,000 people have been killed in the protests that began on December 28.

Protests that began as scattered demonstrations and strikes over rampant inflation and a tanking currency have spread quickly, pulling students, shopkeepers, and ordinary citizens into the streets. The spark is economic — but the anger runs deeper.

What is happening in Iran — and why it matters

The crackdown has been swift and brutal — and it highlights what this unrest really is: a political threat, not just an economic complaint.

Human rights groups and sources inside Iran report lethal force against protesters and bystanders — including children — and mass arrests aimed at breaking demonstrations before they can harden into an organized movement.

In many countries, inflation pressures leaders to reform. In Iran, it pressures the system to tighten control. Authorities try to frame the protests as merely about prices or currency, but the chants and messaging point to something larger: rejection of the regime’s priorities — and, increasingly, the regime itself.

What “the state” means in Iran

“The state” in Iran is not just the police.

Protest crackdowns are enforced through a layered security machine — part police, part paramilitary, part intelligence apparatus — built over decades to protect the regime from domestic unrest. Crackdowns escalate in waves. Police disperse crowds and arrest participants. Paramilitary forces flood the streets to intimidate. And when unrest spreads, Revolutionary Guard-linked structures coordinate surveillance, targeted arrests, and suppression.

-FARAJA (National Police)

FARAJA is Iran’s national uniformed police force.

It is typically the first wave of enforcement: dispersing crowds, setting up checkpoints, and carrying out mass arrests and detentions. In major unrest, it functions as the visible “public order” face of repression.

Human rights groups, including Amnesty International, have accused Iran’s police forces of serious abuses during crackdowns, including unlawful violence against demonstrators.

-Basij (Paramilitary militia)

The Basij is the regime’s street-level enforcer.

It is a mass volunteer paramilitary force under IRGC authority, embedded throughout Iranian society — neighborhoods, schools, universities, workplaces. That embedded structure gives the regime reach and speed: the Basij can mobilize quickly, intimidate communities, identify activists, and reinforce crackdowns on the ground.

Basij’s strength is its penetration in the Iranian population.

-Imam Ali Battalions (Internal security formations)

The Imam Ali Battalions are specialized Basij units designed for rapid deployment during major urban unrest.

They are typically described as more organized and deployable than the broader Basij network. In major protest episodes, such units function as a reinforcement layer — supporting police operations and expanding repression as demonstrations escalate.

-IRGC (Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps)

The IRGC is the backbone of Iran’s security state — more powerful, more political, and often more feared than the regular military.

Created after the 1979 Revolution, it exists to defend not just Iran’s borders, but the Islamic Republic itself — including against internal dissent. Its primary mission is regime protection.

IRGC-linked intelligence plays a major role in identifying protest organizers, monitoring communications, and dismantling dissent networks through surveillance and targeted arrests. In other words, the IRGC does not just confront protesters — it targets the system that makes protest possible.

The IRGC also oversees the Basij.

Between the lines

Iran’s approach to protest control is not just about dispersing crowds.

It is about preventing movements from forming — by deterring participation, breaking organizing networks, and signaling that the state will always escalate faster than civilians can mobilize.

That is why the regime relies on overlapping forces: police for mass arrests, paramilitaries for intimidation, and intelligence services for targeted disruption.

What to watch

Iran’s security structure is designed to escalate quickly — until dissent is broken up, hunted down, and forced back underground.

But inflation keeps generating the same pressure that brought people into the streets in the first place. That is the regime’s dilemma: it can suppress protests, but it cannot easily suppress the economic conditions driving them.