Gunfire echoed through Tehran Tuesday as heavily armed militias were deployed across the Iranian capital, transforming some districts into fortified zones under intense security.
Video footage showed bursts of automatic weapons after dark as government buildings, state media sites and major intersections were reportedly placed under guard, with armored pickups and masked fighters patrolling the streets in Toyotas.
The trucks were mounted with heavy machine guns and were moving in convoys with weapons firing into the darkness as armed men shouted commands.
In the video, large-caliber guns can be heard rattling as vehicles maneuver through urban streets.
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"There has been a deployment of dozens of Toyotas mounted with heavy machine guns (DShK) and other heavy weapons in Tehran," Ali Safavi, a senior official with the National Council of Resistance of Iran (NCRI), told Fox News Digital.
"They are reportedly being used by elements linked to Lebanese Hezbollah and Iraqi Popular Mobilization Forces (PMF)," he said.
"Their commander speaks in Farsi, and these fighters are Iraqi Hashd al-Sha’bi, Popular Mobilization Force and Hezbollah fighters who have joined the IRGC. The IRGC are their commanders, and you can hear them shouting in Farsi."
According to Safavi, the Iranian regime has increasingly relied on foreign proxy forces to maintain control of the capital.
"The regime has brought in at least 5,000 foreign elements now from Iraq and Hezbollah to control Tehran," he explained.
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"They are guarding the government buildings and the state radio and TV and are using heavy machine guns, which are Russian-made and 50 caliber."
Safavi added that "at night, there are fierce clashes that are ongoing as well as running street battles between the protesters and the special unit forces."
The footage emerged as the Human Rights Activists News Agency (HRANA) reported what it described as Day 24 of nationwide protests marked by a continued communications blackout.
"The number of confirmed deaths has reached 4,519, while the number of deaths still under investigation stands at 9,049," the agency said, adding that at least 5,811 people have been seriously injured and 26,314 arrested.
HRANA reports also described an overwhelming security presence, particularly with law enforcement, the IRGC, Basij units and plainclothes agents after nightfall, creating what the group called an atmosphere of deterrence and fear.
The first protests began Dec. 28 and rapidly spread nationwide, driven by economic grievances and opposition to clerical rule.
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Demonstrations have persisted despite mass arrests, lethal force and internet shutdowns.
"Sometimes the protesters hold their ground to the gunfire, ammunition and volleys of tear gas," Safavi said.
He alleged that IRGC units attacked a hospital in Gorgan, killing wounded patients, stationing snipers on rooftops and firing into surrounding areas.
"They then took around 76 bodies to a warehouse and are refusing to hand them over to families because the forces want to bury them in secret," he claimed.
Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei has repeatedly blamed foreign enemies for unrest while backing the IRGC’s response.
President Trump on Tuesday warned Iran that continued assassination threats from leaders in Tehran would trigger overwhelming retaliation.
"Anything ever happens, we’re going to blow the whole — the whole country’s going to get blown up," Trump told NewsNation.
NCRI President-elect Maryam Rajavi rejected the notion that external military action could topple the regime.
"A foreign war cannot bring down this regime," she said in a statement. "What is required is an organized nationwide resistance rooted in active, combat-ready forces inside Iran’s cities to defeat one of the most brutal and repressive apparatuses in the world today — the IRGC."
