ISW: Iran expects anti-regime protests

Iranian authorities are continuing to take measures to deter and prevent anti-regime protests ahead of the anniversaries of Mahsa Amini’s death and the “Bloody Friday” incident on September 16 and 30, respectively. 

Iranian intelligence services announced the arrest of a network of protest planners on September 7. The regime similarly arrested a group of women’s rights activists on August 17 for planning to “incite chaos and vandalism” on the anniversary of Mahsa Amini’s death, Caliber.Az reports citing ISW.

The regime is planning outreach to Iran’s Sunni minority community likely to reduce the risk of major unrest in the eastern Iranian provinces. Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei will meet with residents from Sistan and Baluchistan and South Khorasan provinces on September 11. Demonstrations against the regime have occurred weekly in Sistan and Baluchistan Province since regime security forces violently suppressed protesters in Zahedan in September 2022 in an event that became known as “Bloody Friday.”