Iran’s regime has gone on the offensive, threatening anyone who in any way supported the recent protests — after a crackdown that sources say CBS News may have killed about 12,000 peopleand maybe much more. Thousands of people were arrested and are he now faces possible death sentences for participating in demonstrations.

Post-protest reprisals aim to intimidate people into silence. They include searching for businesses, money and financial assets linked to anyone believed to have supported protests against the regime.

Mohammad Saedinia is one of the most prominent examples.

He is known in Iran as the owner of a chain of pastry shops and bustling cafes that are loved by the residents of the capital Tehran, especially young liberals. He also established a popular shopping center near the holy city of Qom.

The Qom Regional Department of Justice announced on Wednesday that Saedinia had been arrested, accusing him of “inciting people to riot and causing chaos”.

Saedinia’s only crime appears to have been to close his cafes at the very start of the protests in late December, and he made it clear in a social media post that this was in solidarity with businessmen — including many stall holders from Tehran’s main bazaar — who closed their shops to express their anger at the catastrophic devaluation of the Iranian currency.

These demonstrations against the economic difficulties and dire financial condition of the regime quickly turned into nationwide protests against the leadership of the Islamic Republic itself.

Tasnim, a semi-official news agency linked to the country’s powerful Revolutionary Guard, announced on Wednesday that Saedinia’s work licenses and permits had been revoked and his businesses closed.

Tasnim also quoted Iran’s Attorney General Mohammad Movahedi Azad as saying that officials from the country’s judiciary were “obliged to identify the assets of ‘terrorists’ and report them to prosecutors.”

It’s a strong warning to all businesses in the country that they should open their doors for business as usual – and keep quiet about the past two weeks of unrest.

The financial threat extends beyond Iran’s business community. The attorney general, who like other Iranian officials calls the protesters “terrorists,” is demanding the seizure of property belonging to anyone associated with the protests to “teach them to sense.”

President Trump’s threat to take some still unspecified actions against the regime hangs over the leadership. On the one hand, they responded by threatening retaliation against US military installations in the region. On the other hand, this week they want to show that they are withdrawing from the unrest.

A pro-regime source inside Iran told CBS News on Wednesday that the regime’s public position — repeated on state television — was that the protests were an attempt by the U.S. and Israel to topple the government, “which failed miserably.”

The source called the death toll estimates “fabricated and false” and insisted that “the situation is now calm and under control for the third day in a row.”