Iran's internal security forces have been reduced to sleeping under highway bridges, inside buses and in makeshift tents as Israel's systematic air campaign has destroyed their headquarters, command centers and fallback positions one by one, The Wall Street Journal has reported.
Detailed target lists and battle-damage reports reviewed by the Journal give an inside look at the campaign's toll on Iran's security apparatus, "Hvylya" reports, citing The Wall Street Journal. The documents show Israel chasing security forces from headquarters to muster points, then on to improvised hideouts.
A doctor in Tehran described the situation firsthand. Police in the affluent Vanak neighborhood moved their checkpoint beneath a highway bridge to avoid being targeted. Other officers pleaded with him to let them stay overnight in his building - several ended up sleeping in a nook by the stairs. He also reported seeing security forces set up tents or shelter themselves inside buses.
Residents said many officers have moved into residential buildings. When they do, neighbors evacuate fearing an airstrike, one resident told the Journal. Routine police work has ground to a halt: investigations into crimes committed before the war are in limbo, and one resident said a friend could not retrieve a stolen car recovered by police because there was simply no one at the station.
The attacks have also hurt rank-and-file morale. Israeli intelligence assessed that strikes on security facilities drove personnel to begin sleeping in vehicles, mosques or sports complexes. Police told shop owners to close before dark because they could no longer guarantee security in their own neighborhoods.
Despite the visible fraying of authority, Iran's security forces still maintain control of the streets, keeping dissent at bay with threats to shoot to kill. Many Iranians said it would be suicide to rise up now and fear Israel and the United States will leave the regime intact but angrier. "It will be a clear victory for the regime with both predictable and unforeseen circumstances," warned Farzin Nadimi, a senior fellow at the Washington Institute.
Earlier, "Hvylya" reported: Trump's Regime Change Bet in Iran Backfires: What the Streets of Tehran Revealed.