Videos circulating online showed convoys of pickup trucks mounted with heavy machine guns driving through city streets after dark. Masked fighters were seen patrolling major intersections and areas near government buildings and state media offices, with bursts of automatic fire echoing into the night.
Ali Safavi, a senior official with the National Council of Resistance of Iran (NCRI), told Fox News Digital that dozens of such vehicles had been deployed. He claimed the forces included fighters linked to Lebanese Hezbollah and Iraq’s Popular Mobilization Forces operating under the command of Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC).
According to Safavi, the government has increasingly relied on allied foreign groups to help secure the capital. He alleged that thousands of non-Iranian fighters had been brought into Tehran and were tasked with guarding sensitive facilities, including government ministries and state broadcasting centers.
Safavi also said clashes were continuing at night between protesters and security forces, describing what he called running street battles in several districts.
The reports come as the Human Rights Activists described what it called the 24th day of nationwide protests, marked by heavy security deployments and continued communications restrictions. The group reported thousands of deaths, injuries, and arrests since demonstrations began, though many figures remain under investigation.
Security forces — including police, IRGC units, Basij members, and plainclothes agents — have intensified their presence after nightfall, creating what it called an atmosphere of fear and deterrence.
Protests first erupted on Dec. 28 and quickly spread across the country, fueled by economic frustration and opposition to clerical rule. Demonstrations have continued despite mass arrests, lethal force, and recurring internet shutdowns.
Safavi alleged that IRGC units recently attacked a hospital in Gorgan, killing wounded patients and removing bodies to undisclosed locations, claims that could not be independently verified.
Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei has blamed foreign enemies for the unrest while expressing support for the IRGC’s actions. Meanwhile, former U.S. President Donald Trump warned that any assassination attempts linked to Tehran would bring severe retaliation.
NCRI president-elect Maryam Rajavi said regime change would not come through foreign military action, arguing instead that only an organized internal resistance could dismantle what she described as Iran’s repressive security apparatus.