By Kayhan Life Staff
A “monarchist terrorist network” engaged has been identified and “destroyed” by the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps Intelligence Organization (SAS) in Kerman, central Iran, the Chief Justice of Kerman Province said in a statement on Nov. 11.
The report published by the Tasnim News Agency said the leaders of this network had planned to assassinate a member of the security forces in the province in an armed action masterminded by monarchists.
The report added that members of this team, while communicating with media abroad, had engaged in actions against national security last year, including attacking places, destroying public property, setting fire to banners, printing and distributing tracts against the regime, writing slogans, and sending content to satellite networks.
While the number of detained individuals was not given, the report alleged that they had engaged in, among other actions, an attempt to identify and harm the “agents of enjoining good and forbidding evil.”
In recent months, the Ministry of Intelligence of the Islamic Republic and the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps Intelligence Organization have repeatedly arrested multiple individuals on accusations of supporting Prince Reza Pahlavi or of being “royalists.” Charges have ranged from “attempting terrorist acts” to “armed activities.”
These accusations may be part of an internal security initiative aimed at increasing pressure and threats against constitutionalist and monarchist movements within Iran. Such accusations have historically preceded more severe crackdowns against political activists within Iran, and the deployment of assassination teams outside of Iran to target opposition politicians and journalists.
About two and a half months ago, the Tasnim News Agency reported that a group of four people had attempted to raise the “Lion and Sun” flag of pre-revolutionary Iran in Zahedan, in a show of solidarity with the Pahlavi dynasty, and that they were “managed from outside the borders.”. The Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps news agency reported that “this team had planned to put up photos of the Pahlavi family and the flag in the city.”
The government, led by Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei, is deeply concerned about the attention given by the public to the Pahlavi family. Various state-affiliated institutions and media regularly publish articles against them. The Jahad-e-Tebeen propaganda campaign has been launched in recent years to convince the people of Iran that the Pahlavis were “bad,” and that the Islamic Republic is “good.”
Meanwhile, during an organizational meeting held on Nov. 6 in East Azerbaijan Province, Yadollah Javani, the political deputy of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC), provided new details regarding the anti-government protests of 2022. Javani stated that the Hazrat-e-Rasoul Division of the IRGC had arrested a number of “vandals” in September 2022, and that during questioning, one of the arrestees admitted to participating in the protests with the goal of overthrowing the Islamic Republic. This individual had created the hashtag “No to the Islamic Republic.” When questioned about his desired form of government, the individual eventually responded that it would be good if Reza Pahlavi were to assume power, citing the perception that living conditions were better and less expensive during the reign of the Shah.
Detained Iranian Protesters Want Reza Pahlavi Back in Iran, Says IRGC Official
