Inside Iran's Domestic Security Crisis: Armed Threats, Protests, and Border Pressures Amid Regional Conflict

Members of Komala of the Toilers of Kurdistan, a Kurdish-Iranian dissident group, are seen at their military bases hidden among the mountains on March 12, 2026 in Khalifan, Erbil Province, Iraq. Iranian authorities have repeatedly publicised arrests and clashes with small armed cells inside the country, or skirmishes with armed groups along land borders, particularly in the lead-up to and during the war with Israel and the United States. They have endeavoured to frame the war as a national security struggle while sending a message of control and deterrence to audiences inside the country and abroad.

In one of the latest instances, state media said on Sunday that members of an eight-member network allegedly affiliated with “anti-revolutionary” and “pro-monarchy” groups were arrested. The Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) in the southern province of Fars accused those arrested of using Molotov cocktails and burning tyres during nationwide protests in January. The leaders of Iran’s Islamic Republic have in recent weeks also expressed concern about more potential protests as public discontent rises amid deteriorating economic conditions.

During Iran’s January protests and on social media, a number of Iranians have expressed support for the return of the country’s monarchy, which was overthrown in the 1979 Islamic revolution. Reza Pahlavi, the foreign-based son of Iran’s last shah, Mohammad Reza Pahlavi, has been a leading opponent of the country’s government, and in January called on Iranians to join nationwide strikes and protests. Thousands are believed to have been killed during the unrest. But even though there are instances of chanting in support of Pahlavi in Iran, there are currently no major organised pro-monarchy armed groups operating inside the country.

And while multiple nationwide demonstrations have swept Iran in recent years, they have largely been rooted in protesting economic grievances and repression in the country, rather than support for the monarchy. US President Donald Trump, as well as Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, did openly discuss the goal of overthrowing the Iranian state during the opening months of the war, which began in late February. Calls for the monarchy to replace the Islamic Republic have been particularly prominent in demonstrations outside of Iran. The Iranian government has since then announced a large number of arrests of people it says are supporters of the monarchy, including 111 so-called “monarchist cells” arrested across 26 provinces, as announced on March 18 by the Intelligence Ministry.

Kurdish fighters active close to Iran’s western borders with Iraq are the country’s largest non-state armed threat. Multiple groups, designated as “terrorist” outfits by Iranian authorities, have been based in the semiautonomous Kurdish region of northern Iraq for years. At the start of this year’s war, Kurdish armed groups were considered by the Trump administration to lead a limited ground operation in western Iran. Roughly 5,000-8,000 Iranian Kurdish fighters from groups including the Kurdistan Free Life Party (PJAK), Democratic Party of Iranian Kurdistan (PDKI), and Kurdistan Freedom Party (PAK) were preparing for a potential cross-border operation and had held discussions with US and Israeli representatives, though the plan was not set into motion.

Aside from the Kurdish forces, Iran’s southeastern border areas are also home to separatist Baloch fighters. In late August, security forces said they had broken up a cell belonging to Jaish al-Adl, the most prominent of the Baloch armed groups. Alex Vatanka, a senior fellow at the Washington-based Middle East Institute, noted that external support for Kurdish and Baloch rebel groups could heighten the security challenges facing the authorities.