Iran Turns to Hezbollah as Nationwide Protests Intensify
Massive protests across Iran erupted Thursday following a call for mass demonstrations by exiled Crown Prince Reza Pahlavi. As of Thursday, the protests had entered their 12th day and spread to 111 cities and towns across all 31 provinces, according to the U.S.-based Human Rights Activist News Agency.
Open-source reports indicate that the protests in Iran reached multi-million levels on Day 12, marking some of the largest anti-regime demonstrations in the Islamic Republic’s 47-year history.
The Associated Press reported that internet and phone networks were cut as protests intensified. The cause of the outage is unclear but Iranian authorities have shut down internet access in response to protests in the past.
According to Fox News about 850 fighters linked to Hezbollah, Iraqi militias, and Iran’s Quds Force crossed into Iran to support security forces in containing the protests.
“This is nothing new for the regime. It is the logical extension of a playbook the ruling clerics have used since 1979 to outsource repression to ideologically loyal militias and then integrate them into the state’s coercive infrastructure,” Iran expert Lisa Daftari told Fox News.
Earlier reporti bngy Iran International stated that Iraqi Shiite militia reinforcements were sent to Iran in early January to help suppress protests.
“So far, around 800 Iraqi Shiite militiamen have been deployed, almost all of them members of Kataib Hezbollah, Harakat al-Nujaba, Sayyid al-Shuhada and the Badr Organization,” the report states.
The militants reportedly entered the country under the guise of religious pilgrimages before assembling at a base in Ahvaz and being deployed to multiple regions. The reports indicate that Iraqi government officials are aware of the deployment of forces to support Tehran.
According to rights groups, at least 45 protesters, including eight children, have been killed in Iran since demonstrations over the country’s ailing economy began in late December.
