Use of drones by IRGC for crackdown on anti-regime protests in Iran
The Iranian IRGC’s intelligence headquarters publishes a video, showing how they monitor anti-government protests, using drones.
It is unclear what type of drone has been used for these operations, but Iran has developed different types of drones for different usages.
The video shows at least two separate protests on 21, Sept. 2022 in Uromia, the largest city and the capital of West Azerbaijan province, which borders Turkey on the west. In the first protest, there were 150 people present according to the video and 40 of them were “rioters”.
Based on the video, IRGC’s drones are present during the protests and are observing, monitoring the situation and trying to identify the “leaders” of protests which the Iranian government calls “rioters”, of course without their knowledge.
In this part of the video it claims that “the main leaders of riots are women and girls”. It also contains a different shot from a different angle, which the video claims is from the phone of one of the protesters, labeled in the video: “camera shot of criminal 3”.
Apparently the drone or drones are following the protesters when they change their location. Even people who are watching the protests from their rooftops and on the streets, are being watched by the Iranian intelligence.
In this shot, two guys present at the protests talk to each other and the video claims they are leaders of the protests and are organizing for “riots”.
The video shows how after monitoring the situation, knowing the number of the protesters and other information, IRGC forces are sent to crackdown on the them.
Despite all crackdowns, anti-regime protests in Iran have entered to 8th week. Two protests were reported by students in two important universities in Tehran, (Sharif, Science and Research), today, Nov 05, among protests in other places all over the country.
Pro-Kurdish groups claim this video shows armed clashed with government forces in Marivan, in Kurdistan province.
The Iranian Human Rights Organization said today that during the crackdown on the ongoing protests in Iran, 304 people have been killed in 22 provinces. They include 41 children including 3 Afghans, according to the organization.
Anti government protests in Iran erupted after the death of Mahsa Amini, a 22-year-old Kurdish girl who died on September 16 in Tehran, the Iranian capital after her arrest by the Iranian moral police.
Use of drones in crackdown operations on protesters in Iran is publicized in a time that the Iranian FM has finally admitted that Tehran has provided “a small number” of drones to Russia.
But he claimed that it was before the start of the Russian invasion on Ukraine and asked Kyiv to provide evidences for its claim that Iranian drones are used by Russian in the Ukraine war.
But Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, in a video message by the presidential palace, has denied Iranian claims, saying: “Iranian authorities are lying in their own admission, we shoot down 10 Shahid drones a day.”
According to him, only yesterday 11 Iranian drones were shot down by Ukrainian forces. “We know for sure that Iranian instructors taught Russian terrorists how to use drones, and Tehran is generally silent about it”, he added.
