$35 a Day to Kill: How Iran is Paying Rural Recruits to Suppress the Capital
Whistleblowers in Tehran describe a city under total military occupation, where thousands of paid recruits are being used to turn every street corner into a checkpoint.
As the war enters its fourth week, the situation inside the Iranian capital has descended into a state of total military occupation. Residents using social media and opposition channels like Iran International are describing a city that has been turned into a "prison," with armed checkpoints appearing every few yards. Reports indicate that the regime has bused in thousands of people from impoverished rural villages to man these positions, creating a massive, loyalist security net designed to prevent any internal uprising while the country is under external attack.
The Business of Suppression
The regime is reportedly using its remaining oil wealth to fund this massive internal security operation. Sources claim that each individual manning a checkpoint receives a daily bonus of 2 million Tomans, roughly 30 to 35 dollars, which is a fortune for those brought in from the countryside. These recruits, described by terrified locals as acting with "ISIS style" brutality, are essentially holding the millions of residents of Tehran as hostages to ensure the regime’s survival. Footage smuggled out of the city shows armored vehicles hiding under highway bridges and plainclothes officers on motorcycles patrolling residential areas and shopping centers to crush any sign of dissent.
The atmosphere in the capital is one of extreme tension, with residents reporting that the security forces emerge in force every evening around 8:00 p.m. to assert control. One resident described the situation as a "hard core" of 20,000 to 30,000 armed loyalists who know that if the regime falls, the public will seek revenge against them, compelling them to defend the government with desperate ferocity. This internal lockdown is the regime’s primary defense against a "regime change" scenario, as they use the civilian population as a shield while their military infrastructure is dismantled from the air. For the people of Tehran, the war is happening on two fronts: the bombs falling from the sky and the paid mercenaries occupying their doorsteps.