Iran's government has tightened its grip on everyday life across the country, especially in the capital city of Tehran, as efforts to negotiate an end to the war between the US-Israel side and Iran remain uncertain, Al Jazeera reported on August 6, 2026. Security forces and the so-called morality police, a unit that enforces the government's strict religious rules, have increased restrictions, arrests, and punishments against people and businesses the government says are breaking Islamic rules. The morality police forced women to wear the hijab (a head covering required by law), shut down businesses, and pressured students, lawyers, and others.

This crackdown comes after huge anti-government protests swept Iran in January 2026. Thousands of people were killed, and many more were arrested and executed. The Iranian government has said that 3,117 people were killed during the January unrest, mostly on the nights of January 8 and 9, 2026. Rights groups and US officials have cited higher numbers. Iranian authorities called the January protests a "coup" attempt organized by the United States and Israel, claiming that armed agents from the CIA and Mossad (Israel's intelligence agency) had disguised themselves among the protesters.

President Masoud Pezeshkian, in a televised interview released on August 5, 2026, called the January events "bitter and unforgettable." He accused US President Donald Trump and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu of organizing protests across several Iranian cities to destabilize the Islamic Republic. Iranian officials across the government have called for the country to "stand united" against foreign aggression, while showing less and less tolerance for anyone who disagrees or does not follow the rules. Iran's security forces have combined executions with arrests, seizing people's property and controlling the internet and media.

The punishment has become more visible and more severe. On July 28, 2026, two young men were publicly hanged in a square in the city of Isfahan, using a crane and scaffolding, surrounded by heavy security. They were charged with moharebeh, which means "waging war against God," and "corruption on Earth," linked to accusations of arson and the deaths of security personnel during the nationwide unrest. Families and people in the area tried to stop the execution but were forced back by authorities; videos shared on social media appeared to show gunshots. Two other young men had already been executed in the same Isfahan case, and the US-based Human Rights Activists News Agency reported that a third person avoided hanging after having a stroke hours before the scheduled execution but was still at risk. Eight people still faced execution in the Isfahan case, which involved 16 defendants in total. Similar cases were ongoing in Isfahan province and other areas, though the authorities mostly do not report them.

The Isfahan case is part of a larger pattern. On August 5, 2026, the UN's top human rights official, Volker Turk, stated that Iran had executed at least 56 people since the January protests. Amnesty International, a major rights organization, reported in July 2026 that Iranian authorities had executed at least 26 people since the start of 2026 for offences connected to the January protests. In May, Amnesty reported that authorities were using "wartime conditions" as a reason to crack down harder on people who disagreed with the government, carrying out mass arrests and political executions. They said that since the US-Israeli attacks on Iran began on February 28, 2026, at least 36 people had been executed without fair legal process. In March 2026, Amnesty reported that four men had been secretly executed within 24 hours and that seven protesters and government critics faced imminent execution. A teenage protester named Amirhossein Hatami was executed in Ghezel Hesar prison on April 2, 2026.

Arrests have continued alongside the executions. In March 2026, one month after the war began, Iranian security forces launched a new wave of arrests, detaining at least 1,500 people as the government intensified its crackdown. In July 2026, UN experts urged Iran to cancel death sentences handed to 12 young men for involvement in the January protests, all decided in a single court hearing.

This wave of repression follows a pattern from earlier years. In January 2023, Iran hanged two men accused of killing a security agent during protests, and dozens of well-known people were arrested and faced harsh sentences. In December 2022, Iran carried out its second execution connected to a wave of anti-government protests, publicly hanging a man whom state media said was convicted of killing two security force members. The rights group HRNA recorded 705 arrests on political or security charges connected to an earlier period of unrest, as reported by Reuters in June 2025. In January 2026, Iranian state media reported that a 26-year-old man arrested during protests in Karaj would not be given the death sentence.

The broader context here is that Iran is fighting a war on the outside while treating its own citizens' disagreement as part of that same war. Wartime conditions give the government both a reason and cover to tighten control over society. The morality police returning to enforce hijab rules, close businesses, and pressure students and lawyers signals that the security forces are going beyond protest-related cases and expanding their reach into everyday life. By calling the January protests a "coup" tied to foreign intelligence, the government has blurred the line between ordinary disagreement and treason, treating minor acts of noncompliance as if they were armed rebellion.

The execution numbers also raise questions about how the justice system works. The Isfahan case alone, with 16 defendants and four already executed, shows a court system that can push large groups through death penalty charges very quickly. The fact that UN experts had to intervene over 12 death sentences handed down in a single hearing points to concerns about whether these people received a fair trial. With eight more facing execution in Isfahan and similar cases elsewhere, it looks like the January protests will keep producing court outcomes for months.

Whether diplomatic efforts to end the war succeed or fail, the internal crackdown has built up its own momentum, driven by the security forces' own incentives and a political leadership that treats unity and tolerance for disagreement as incompatible.