The Institute for the Study of War says it ’recorded zero protests’ for Jan. 15.
The protest movement in Iran appears to have abated at least for now, according to a U.S. think tank and research group in a recent update.
The Institute for the Study of War said that as of Thursday, the Iranian regime’s “pervasive securitization measures and violent crackdown on protests appear to have suppressed protest activity for now,” adding that it “recorded zero protests” on that day.
That’s the second day in a row that the group has not seen any protest activity in Iran, it said in an update that was posted late on Thursday night.
Some demonstrators, residents, and activists in Iran have told Reuters that protests have also died down in recent days due to the clampdown. Meanwhile, Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi said on Wednesday in a Fox News interview that the regime currently maintains authority.
“We are in full control,” Araghchi said, while blaming the demonstrations on terrorist groups. “And let’s, you know, hope that wisdom would prevail. And we don’t go for a high level of tension, which could be disastrous for everybody.”
The protests erupted on Dec. 28 over soaring inflation in Iran, where the economy has been crippled by sanctions, before morphing into one of the biggest challenges yet to the clerical establishment that has run Iran since the 1979 Islamic Revolution.
Demonstrations were followed by a broad clampdown by the Iranian regime, which also cut off internet access inside the country at one point. Some Iranian websites, including those of state-run media outlets, remain offline as of Friday morning.
Due to the blackout in the country, verifying information about protests or the death toll reported by human rights groups is difficult.
The Institute for the Study of War noted that Iran’s security force-led clampdown is not sustainable in the long term and that protests may erupt again “when the regime is no longer able to sustain this mobilization,” adding that such a move would also risk “burning out and exhausting these forces.”
“The regime is also taking other measures to securitize society, such as sustaining its nationwide internet shutdown, that impose a significant cost on the regime,” it said.
“The regime’s willingness to sustain these securitization measures highlights how the regime still perceives its population as a serious threat. It is unclear, however, how long the regime will be able to sustain these measures.”
