Iran celebrates end of war as ‘victory' over ‘enemy aggressor’ while hunting for internal dissidents

Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian congratulated the Iranian people for their “historic punishment” of the “enemy aggressor” during a speech to celebrate Iran’s victory over Israel in a victory parade in Tehran, according to the regime-affiliated Fars News Agency. 

“After the courageous resistance of your great and history-making nation, we are witnessing a ceasefire and cessation of the 12-day war that was imposed on the Iranian nation by the adventurism and incitement of the Zionist regime," Pezeshkian stated. 

“During this period, the world watched the authority of the great Iran, which enjoyed the support of its people, and although the beginning of this imposed war was a terrorist enemy, its end was marked by the will and authority of the great people of Iran. Today, in a situation where the enemy aggressor agreed to stop fomenting war, he suffered a severe and historic punishment," Pezeshkian continued. 

Iranian Quds Force Commander Esmail Qaani was also seen for the first time since the start of the campaign against Iran, when he participated in the victory celebrations in Tehran.

יצא מהמחבוא אחרי הפסקת האש: מפקד כוח קודס האיראני איסמאעיל קאאני נראה לראשונה מאז תחילת המערכה נגד איראן. השתתף ב"חגיגות הניצחון" בטהראן pic.twitter.com/oH2YiKC6jf

— roi kais • روعي كايس • רועי קייס (@kaisos1987) June 24, 2025

Later on Wednesday morning, during an Iranian cabinet meeting, Pezeshkian said, “The Zionist regime’s actions made us realize more than ever that it is all the people of Iran – not just one party, one minority, or one group – who are capable of defending the country.” 

Despite Pezeshkian’s statements, reports coming out of Iran prior to the regime’s decision to cut off internet access in the country, indicated that the government has begun to use the Basij Force, a kind of paramilitary force, infamous for cracking down on dissent and for violent oppression of Iranian protesters. 

Iranian accounts on social media posted messages detailing police and Basij checkpoints set up throughout Tehran, in an attempt to find people protesting the regime, taking pictures of Israeli strikes, or engaged in other anti-regime behaviors. 

In his speech to the cabinet, President Pezeshkian personally thanked the Basij Force. 

The Public Relations Department of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) announced the details of the funeral ceremony of the IRGC commanders killed by “the brutal Israeli aggression” during Operation Rising Lion. 

According to the Fars News Agency, the public funeral ceremonies for “the senior martyred commanders, along with other martyred commanders of the Zionist regime’s brutal aggression” will be held will be held on Saturday, June 28, in Tehran, while the funeral for IRGC commander Hossein Salami, and Brig,-Gen. Haj Masoud Shanei, his office director, will be held June 26 in their hometown of Golpayegan. 

Meanwhile, Far News Agency claimed that three Mossad spies were executed by hanging earlier this morning, in the Urmia Prison in the western part of the country. 

“Three spies affiliated with the terrorist intelligence agency of the Zionist regime, Mossad, were executed by hanging in Urmia,” the site reported. 

Fars News said the three men, Idris Ali, Azad Shojaei, and Rasoul Ahmad Rasoul, were accused of smuggling assassination equipment into Iran. The three were charged with “‘waging war against God’ (moharebeh) and 'spreading corruption on earth’ (efsad fel-arz) through collaboration with hostile foreign governments.” 

However, despite the accusation of contributing to the assassination of government figures, the three were not connected to any of the recent assassinations during Operation Rising Lion. 

Iran International, a news site affiliated with opposition movements, said the three Kurdish were implicated in the killing of Mohsen Fakhrizadeh, an Iranian nuclear physicist and scientist who headed Iran’s nuclear program until his surprise killing in November 2020. 

Fakhrizadeh was killed by a remotely-operated machine gun, rigged with facial recognition software, and satellite uplinks. While the operation is largely believed to have been carried out by the Mossad, it required willing participants to bring in the components, assemble them, and make sure the system was operating properly. 

The three men, who ran a liquor smuggling operation, are accused of smuggling the components into Iran. 

However, Iran International cited sources familiar with the families in Iran, who claimed the men were forced into giving a confession through torture. 

The Human Rights Activist News Agency (HRANA) reported that so far, 823 Iranian citizens have been arrested since the start of the war on security charges. HRANA said that 286 individuals were arrested for activities on social media or for publishing posts about the Israeli attacks, while 537 were arrested for “security reasons.” 

Iranian police announced that checkpoints will continue throughout Iran despite the end of the conflict, according to Iran International.

The news outlet cited the spokesperson of the Internal Affairs Commission, who said in a speech that the police deputies have called for the strengthening of checkpoints.