TEENAGE militants have been armed with weapons at checkpoints as Iran’s collapsing regime attempts to claw back control.
Ramping up terror on the streets has long been the regime’s answer to challenge – and insiders in the rogue nation have told of the new lows it has sunk to.
The death of Ayatollah Ali Khamenei and dozens of his top brass has left remaining mullahs desperately clinging to power and even cowering in schools for cover as they try to avoid being wiped out.
Fearing the regime is on the brink of caving for good, a barbaric crackdown involving armed patrols, brutal checkpoints and mass arrests has been unleashed.
One source inside Tehran told The Sun: “Since the bombings began, the regime’s forces have been patrolling the streets fully armed out of sheer fear.
“They know that if even a small opening is created, the people will rise up again, and they are terrified of the masses pouring into the streets.”
Iranians have been under the repressive thumb of the regime since the Islamic Revolution toppled the Shah dynasty in 1979.
But after the US and Israel began blitzing the country two weeks ago, Donald Trump called on the population to seize the opportunity to oust it for good.
Flames of rebellion have been fanned as missiles and drones continue to rain down – with the memory of January’s deadly protests still fresh in the minds of millions of Iranians yearning for the end of the regime’s rule.
Repressive measures have been intensified in the last fortnight in a bid to stamp out an uprising.
In the capital, people stopped at checkpoints are having their mobile phones snatched from their hands to be checked.
Ruthless militants search to see whether the owner has communicated with a number outside the country – and if they have, they are arrested, insiders say.
In some areas, individuals are stopped at checkpoints up to six times a day.
One source in the city of Rasht told how at checkpoints, teenagers as young as 14 have been armed with weapons.
The baby-faced members of Basij – a paramilitary volunteer militia within the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps – have been ordered to confiscate photos and scrutinise activity.
One insider said: “There is no longer any privacy; consequently, many people avoid installing VPNs to escape harassment.”
Despite the relentless crushing of dissent, rebels have vowed to put the final nail in the regime’s coffin as soon as Trump’s operation Epic Fury wraps up.
Sarina, 27, from Tehran told The Sun: “This regime knows their sole enemy is its population and their organised resistance.
“However, we are witnessing their collapse with our own eyes every single day, and we are very close to that moment.
“As soon as the bombings stop, we will undoubtedly return to the streets, and this time it will be the final uprising, we will finish them off.
“The people of Iran have been waiting for this opportunity and these days for a long time.
“Even under the harshest conditions, we showed our protest against this government through small acts in the streets.
“But now, our numbers have grown significantly. Freedom and democracy are the demands of all Iranians, and I have no doubt we will realise this dream soon.”
But the regime – now led by Khamenei’s ailing son Mojtaba – now not only has outside opposition to deal with.
Loyal IRGC members have started deserting their posts as the regime crumbles from within.
One army personnel in Tehran said: “Since the start of the current conflict, many IRGC bases and Basij headquarters have been attacked.
“This has caused many military commanders, who belong to the IRGC, to flee and go hiding out of fear.
“Chaos has now spread to many Army barracks because many commanders are effectively absent.
“My friends and I have decided to leave the barracks and return
home to defend our families and the people, rather than this government.
“Its expiration date has passed, and it is in a state of collapse.”
Iran rebels defy internet blackout to reveal they are READY to topple regime
Exclusive by Katie Davis, Deputy Foreign Editor
BRAVE Iranian rebels have broken through the regime’s internet blackout to tell The Sun: “We are ready to finally take our country back”.
Ayatollah Ali Khamenei’s grisly downfall that saw him wind up dead in a pile of rubble has left the rogue nation’s repressed public wanting more.
One defiant Iranian told me: “The endgame feels real in a way it hasn’t before.”
Donald Trump hailed the chief mullah’s pathetic demise after his compound was blitzed as “the single greatest chance for the Iranian people to take back their country”.
In a rallying cry to Iran’s population, the US president urged them to seize the opportunity to put the final nail in the nation’s bloodthirsty regime.
Courageous Iranians – whose identities we have concealed to protect them – say they are waiting for their moment to finally topple the regime as Khamenei’s inner circle desperately tries to cling to power.
Internet blackouts have made it extremely difficult to communicate but, with limited VPN connection, they have managed to share accounts.
During January’s deadly protests, when ruthless Khamenei ordered his revolutionary guards to show no mercy, critics told me they would rather die than see his regime survive.
But now, almost two months on, the Supreme Leader is dead, and protesters are more certain than ever they could be on the brink of freedom.
One 27-year-old rebel living in Tehran told The Sun: “Many of us believed it was possible before, but those uprisings were never meant to be the final chapter by themselves.
“The regime survived by hiding behind proxies, money networks, and foreign lobbying.
“Now that mask is cracking and their hand is exposed, the endgame feels real in a way it hasn’t before.
“It’s a strange mix of relief and iron focus. People are glad to see operations striking terrorists – but the deeper feeling is impatience and readiness.
“Everyone is waiting for the moment it becomes our turn to reclaim Iran, and people talk about it out loud now. No more whispers.”
The drums of revolt are now beating harder on the streets of Iran as more and more people refuse to allow any more bloodshed.
One conscript from Tehran said: “After the horrific massacre of protesters in January by the IRGC and Basij, this criminal regime has completely lost its credibility and legitimacy.
“People are thinking only of its overthrow. My message to all Army conscripts is: You serve to defend the nation.
“Take this opportunity to leave the barracks. If popular protests rise again, protect your families and the nation against the IRGC, the Basij, and the regime’s repressive apparatus.
“We hope for the freedom of the nation and the imminent fall of this criminal regime.”
It comes as the regime attempts to pick up the shattered pieces of its grip – with Khamenei’s inglorious death on February 28 plunging it into turmoil.
The Supreme Leader put his nation’s war machine on autopilot before he was blown to pieces in his presidential palace in Tehran in the first action of Operation Epic Fury.
His shadowy son Mojtaba, 56, succeeded him – but has never given a public speech and has stayed silent amid rumours he is already dead.
Dozens of top clerics have also been wiped out – leaving surviving top brass taking drastic action to dodge obliteration.
Schools and universities have become their hideouts as the US and Israel target military, nuclear and government sites.
Sources in Tehran have seen government equipment moved into educational facilities, and regime operational frameworks have been established in two schools in Niruye Havayi district.
In the city of Qazvin, insiders say several adjacent schools are being used as cover.
“Personnel move between them to avoid being targeted, using students as human shields,” one source said.
It comes as Trump says the new supreme leader may be dead – and that he is “not ready” to make a deal with Iran as operation Epic Fury enters its third week.
On Friday night, the president unleashed the ultimate act of deterrence as he “totally obliterated every MILITARY target in Iran’s crown jewel”.
But he hinted crucial oil infrastructure on the island will be hit too – “should Iran, or anyone else” continue to disrupt shipping in the Strait of Hormuz.
Trump yesterday said he hoped the UK would join a Strait of Hormuz taskforce to reopen the vital waterway.
He has also ordered 2,500 US Marines and a flotilla of invasion ships to the Middle East as he tightens the screws on Iran’s new Ayatollah.
Meanwhile, Gulf states reported new missile and drone attacks today after Tehran threatened to widen its campaign and called for the evacuation of three major ports in the UAE.
