Tehran Labels Protesters “Terrorists” as Iranian Government Braces for Strike Targeting Command Centers

In a desperate bid to delegitimize the growing opposition, top Iranian officials have begun labeling domestic protesters as “urban groups with terrorist-like characteristics.” Ali Larijani, the secretary of the supreme national security council, has accused these groups of seeking to provoke a civil war by attacking police centers. The Iranian government is bracing for a U.S. strike by framing the entire conflict as an anti-terror operation, a narrative designed to justify the brutal crackdown that has already claimed over 5,000 lives.
This rhetorical shift is a direct response to the U.S. strategy of targeting the political leadership. By claiming that the protesters are foreign-backed terrorists, the regime hopes to paint any U.S. intervention as a “state-sponsored” act of terrorism. However, the international community, led by the U.S. and the UN, sees the situation as a popular uprising against 60% inflation and a decade of repression.
The U.S. carrier deployment is intended to provide “combat airpower” to disrupt the command and control of the Revolutionary Guards. The upcoming military exercises will demonstrate how the U.S. can “sustain” an air campaign that protects the protesters from the very security forces Larijani claims are under attack. It is a battle of narratives: one side sees a liberation, the other sees a foreign-induced civil war.
The “terrorist” label has also been used to justify the ongoing internet blackout. By cutting off communications, the government claims it is preventing the “terrorists” from coordinating with their American and Israeli masters. Yet, the reality of 27,000 detainees and thousands of deaths suggests that the “terrorists” are, in fact, the 90 million citizens who can no longer afford bread.
As the Iranian government braces for a strike, they are attempting to consolidate their power by creating a permanent state of emergency. But with the USS Abraham Lincoln arriving in the Mediterranean, the regime’s attempt to control the narrative is failing as quickly as its economy. The world is no longer listening to Tehran’s excuses; it is watching their radar screens.