ERBIL, Kurdistan Region - Iran’s police chief said Sunday authorities have arrested more than 6,500 people accused of espionage and anti-state activity since the outbreak of war on February 28, as the country intensifies a sweeping crackdown amid fears of domestic unrest and mounting international pressure.
“Since the start of the war, more than 6,500 traitors to the homeland and spies have been arrested,” Ahmad Reza Radan said according to the state media, adding that 567 of them were li naked to anti revolutionary groups.
The arrests come as Iranian authorities have escalated repression through executions, televised confessions, and public parading of detainees on state television, part of what rights groups describe as an effort to deter dissent as Tehran faces growing internal strain.
The judiciary has executed an estimated 31 political prisoners in recent weeks under what officials have described as a policy of “no mercy” toward perceived dissidents, following the US and Israeli military campaign that began in late February.
The state has also mobilized supporters into the streets for nearly 80 consecutive nights, a move widely seen as an attempt to project strength amid fears of public unrest and widening discontent.
The crackdown comes as US President Donald Trump renewed pressure on Tehran on Sunday, warning that “For Iran, the Clock is Ticking, and they better get moving, FAST, or there won't be anything left of them,” adding that “TIME IS OF THE ESSENCE!”
The remarks coincided with renewed tensions in the Gulf, where recent attacks have underscored the fragility of the April 8 ceasefire brokered by Pakistan after weeks of conflict.
While diplomatic efforts continue, negotiations remain deadlocked.
On Sunday, Iran said through state media that any future negotiations with the US would depend on five preconditions, saying that “even if these conditions are met by Iran, the threat of aggression from the United States and the Zionist regime [Israel] will remain in place,” reported Fars News Agency, an affiliate of Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC).
Tehran has asked for bringing an end to the war “on all fronts, especially in Lebanon,” lifting all “anti-Iranian” sanctions, release of all frozen assets, compensation for war damages, and “recognition of Iran’s sovereignty” over the Strait of Hormuz.
According to the agency, the US demands include transferring Iran’s near-weapon-grade uranium stockpile of more than 400 kilograms to the US, keeping “only one set of Iran’s nuclear facilities” active, and conditioning the cessation of hostilities on all fronts during negotiations, in addition to keeping the US unaccountable to compensate for Iran’s war damages and releasing an unknown fraction of Tehran’s frozen assets.
This was the third US proposal since the outbreak of the war on February 28, when the US and Israel launched a large-scale aerial campaign against Iran, targeting more than 17,000 sites across the country, before Washington and Tehran halted the hostilities through a Pakistani-brokered ceasefire on April 8.