Fear has replaced hope for Iranians as security forces flood streets of Tehran

The regime is hunting for satellite dishes and covering up all signs of protest in the capital, writes Ruth Michaelson

- Ruth Michaelson

The Iranian regime is conducting a show of power; on the streets of Tehran, its security agencies are out in force.

New flags hang at the entrance to every metro station, including some where protesters were teargassed inside. A burned-out fire engine was left in central Enghelab Square, adorned with signs blaming terrorists for the destruction.

The authorities have welded new street signs to the walls to cover up any altered by demonstrators and are hunting for satellite dishes on rooftops. Metal bars now ring branches of a supermarket chain linked to Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) that protesters targeted, to prevent anyone setting them alight.

Parinaz, a blogger and protester, tried to take some comfort from the fact that the authorities had not yet managed to cover up all the anti-regime slogans sprayed on the walls. She only stopped leaning out of her windows at night to chant slogans last week as protests ebbed. Still, she overheard two people yell curses about the country’s supreme leader, Ali Khamenei, when they spotted plainclothes security on motorbikes.

But these moments of rebellion are rare. Among the demonstrators who took to the streets night after night, fear has replaced hope. “These days, I don’t dare ask around to see who has been killed and what has happened to people I know,” said Parinaz. “The situation is awful there are crowds of plainclothes police, security forces and Basijis everywhere,” she added, referring in the last instance to members of the IRGC’s paramilitary group.