Iran’s regime is increasingly forced to defend itself at home

Iran’s Revolutionary Guards still possess missiles, extensive security networks and the ability to strike the country’s adversaries. But the institution that helped build Iran’s influence abroad is increasingly being pulled back toward a more urgent mission: defending the regime at home.

The pressure, this opinion article argues, no longer comes from a single front. Iran faces a widening territory to secure, rising costs and growing demands on its resources and room for maneuver. The signs are visible in the leadership’s own decisions. In August, Ahmad Vahidi took command of the Revolutionary Guards, Mostafa Izadi became his deputy, and Hossein Taeb returned to lead the Basij after previously heading the Guards’ intelligence organization.

Mohsen Rezaei was also appointed secretary of the Supreme National Security Council and the supreme leader’s representative to the body. The article presents the appointments as a mobilization of Revolutionary Guard figures, the security apparatus and loyalists at a time when protecting the clerical regime has become closely tied to the conflict it wages abroad.

Taeb’s return receives particular emphasis. The Basij, the paramilitary force linked to the Revolutionary Guards, serves as a key instrument for monitoring Iranian society, controlling the streets and suppressing demonstrations. His return is portrayed not as a routine administrative change, but as a sign that the security apparatus is again relying on repression, infiltration and intimidation to confront dissent.

In August, Iran International, a media outlet opposed to the regime, published a recording it said came from a closed meeting of the Media and Cyberspace Headquarters. The discussion reportedly focused on the possibility of new protests, the shrinking social environment favorable to the Basij and expanded surveillance of opposition activity on social media. The assassination of Hamidreza Rajabzadeh, a pro-regime religious singer, further unsettled circles close to power. The motives remain under investigation and accounts differ, but the incident added to a political climate marked by heightened insecurity inside the regime.