Law enforcement assemblies: Tehran, Mashad, Sari, Isfahan, Shiraz

TEHRAN

Imagery believed taken at Tehran. Foreground: IRIPF (NAJA) Special Unit, SWAT-equivalent sergeant major.

IRIPF (NAJA) Special Unit motorized section, Tehran

IRIPF (NAJA) Special Unit, SWAT-equivalent counterterrorism (CT) demonstration

IRIPF (NAJA) Special Unit, SWAT-equivalent counterterrorism (CT) force aboard Mercedes-Benz E240 police car

Foreground: what appears to be NAJA-attached army conscripts in the Border Protection Police

What appears to be contingent from the IRI Coast Guard

MASHHAD

Believed to be Mashhad: motor officer equivalent stunt demonstration

IRIPF (NAJA) Special Unit, SWAT-equivalent counterterrorism (CT) demonstration

SARI

IRIPF (NAJA) Border Protection Police contingent

IRIPF (NAJA) "Iron Man" demonstration of strength (1)

IRIPF (NAJA) "Iron Man" demonstration of strength (2)

Motor officer equivalent stunt demonstration using late model Honda CR-type dirt bike

IRIPA Bell 214A Isfahan medium-lift helicopter

IRIPF (NAJA) Iranian-built AMICO quad used for acrobatic demonstration

IRIPF (NAJA) Special Unit motorized section, Sari

What appears to be NAJA-attached army conscripts, Sari

ISFAHAN

 

IRIPF (NAJA) Special Unit motorized section, Isfahan

Motor officer equivalent stunt demonstration using vintage 90's era Suzuki TS 185

What appears to be NAJA-attached army conscripts, Isfahan

SHIRAZ

Mounted law enforcement contingent outfitted in BDUs and body armor

IRIPF (NAJA) Special Unit aboard Toyota J100 series Land Cruiser

Photos:
Abbas Pustindouz and Mostafa German at Mehr News Agency
Farhad Babaei, Nima Najafzadeh and Hossein Heidarpour at Tasnim News Agency
Mostafa Kazemi at Fars News Agency

Law Enforcement Crowd Control Management Preparations for 22 Bahman

By Mark Pyruz

IRIPF/SF motorized antiriot policemen

According to the Los Angeles Times, a source inside Iran claims the Islamic Republic of Iran Police Force (IRIPF, or Iranian acronym: NAJA) is preparing for the potentiality of as many as 3 million protesters taking to the streets of Tehran this Thursday. The occasion is 22 Bahman: the 31st anniversary of the founding of the Islamic Republic.

In addition, the same source told the LAT that the government will be mobilizing 500,000 supporters to rally at the event, where President Ahmadinejad is scheduled to deliver a public speech, with invited members of the foreign press included in the audience. (Remarkable, given the scope of projected protests.)

Figures for IRIPF deployment have not been cited, but the LAT provides a figure for Basij volunteers at ~12,000, with many elements of this force being mobilized from various provinces around the country. Accordingly, it can be projected that the number of IRIPF policemen (cadre and conscript-soldiers) could actually be as high as triple that amount or more, with significant numbers of reinforcements being drawn from local, regional and border protection police forces.

IRIPF Mercedes-Benz C200 police car with cadre policemen

It would be surprising to see the less-lethal antiriot policy be lifted in favor of lethal force. However, given the number of cases of violence inflicted upon IRIPF police officers during the Ashura protests, there may or may not be a number of firearms distributed to key personnel, for purposes of self-defense. It can be assumed that IRIPF police officers would be in favor of such, but Iranian government policy so far- initiated after the June 2009 protests- means to prevent or minimize police-inflicted fatalities wherever possible. Perhaps there will be a greater distribution of less-lethal forms of ammunition provided for use in police officer firearms. We'll see how this plays out this coming Thursday.

It will be interesting to see if the IRIPF makes any changes to the tactics employed by its motorized reconnaissance units, which appeared vulnerable under certain conditions during Ashura, as well as if there'll be more effective use of Islamic Republic of Iran Police Aviation (IRIPA) resources, in terms of sustained, coordinated crowd control management.

IRIPA Agusta AB-206A Jet Ranger (Photo: Saeed Ezadi @ Airliners.net)

Also, yet to be deployed in meaningful numbers, is the prospect of uniformed IRGC forces actively participating in crowd control operations, as a full or partial military unit(s). Perhaps they will continue on in a reserve force role, to be fully activated upon emergency.

Lastly, it is safe to assume that additional preparations are being made to accommodate large numbers of arrests, at various jail and correctional facilities.

Given IRIPF's crowd control management estimate of potentially 3 million protesters massing for 22 Bahman, this coming Thursday may see the IRIPF's greatest challenge to date.