In an analytical report published by the Spanish daily El Debate, Firouz Mahvi, Political Director of the Brussels office of the National Council of Resistance of Iran (NCRI), examines the resilience of organized underground networks operating across Iranian cities. The analysis underscores that the Iranian authorities are actively exploiting external military conflicts and national security pretexts to intensify domestic repression, expedite sham trials, and escalate public executions to instill fear. However, Mahvi argues that this wave of intimidation reflects Tehran’s deep-seated anxiety over the resurgence of organized unrest, spotlighting the pivotal role of the “Resistance Units” affiliated with the People’s Mojahedin Organization of Iran (PMOI/MEK) in sustaining the momentum for democratic change.
Wartime Pretexts and the Machinery of Intimidation
The report highlights that external hostilities have not created Iran’s repressive apparatus but rather reinforced an existing coercive structure. Amnesty International has warned that authorities are explicitly citing “wartime conditions” to justify widespread crackdowns, while the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights cautioned that the death penalty is being weaponized to crush dissent. A stark manifestation of this terror campaign occurred on July 28 with the public hanging of two young protesters in Isfahan. The public executions drew swift international condemnation, notably from Madrid, where the Spanish Ministry of Foreign Affairs firmly condemned the killings and urged Tehran to halt pending death sentences against eight other demonstrators tried in the same case.
Clandestine Operations Across Iranian Cities
Mahvi details how the Resistance Units continue to operate beneath a dense blanket of state surveillance. Their activities range from distributing anti-regime literature and posting defiance slogans to confronting centers of suppression. Marking the anniversary of the 1988 massacre of political prisoners, the network carried out 60 coordinated operations on August 7 across Tehran and 26 other cities. Extensive anti-execution campaigns and defiance actions were simultaneously documented in major urban hubs including Tabriz, Isfahan, Kermanshah, Rasht, and Zahedan. Despite systematic torture and death sentences handed down by Revolutionary Courts to suspected PMOI affiliates, the network’s operational footprint continues to expand.
Spontaneous Protests Versus Organized Continuity
The analysis draws a crucial strategic distinction between spontaneous street demonstrations and structured clandestine resistance. While authorities can suppress open protests, disrupt telecommunications, and carry out mass arrests, they cannot easily dismantle an underground network designed to preserve contacts, strategic experience, and political continuity between successive uprisings. Mahvi emphasizes a significant generational dynamic: a large proportion of detained activists are university students and youths aged 18 to 21. Having known no other political reality than the current theocracy, this generation’s political consciousness has been forged through recurrent cycles of protest and state violence, cementing their commitment to fundamental change.
The Strategic Imperative for Domestic Democratic Transition
The report situates these developments within the broader strategy articulated by NCRI President-elect Maryam Rajavi, which focuses on keeping resistance active between periods of mass mobilization so that each new uprising does not have to rebuild from scratch. Mahvi concludes that while foreign military actions may strike regime facilities, genuine and lasting democratic transition cannot be imported from abroad. The decisive factor remains the capacity of the Iranian people and their organized resistance networks to transform widespread public discontent into an organized political breakthrough, ensuring that fear does not dictate the nation’s future.
