NAJA/NOPO Counter-Terror Special Forces - Video

 IRIB TV3 video of Iran NAJA/NOPO Police Counter-Terror Special Forces

Scandal Over Rigi's Pakistani Identity Card

These reports over the ID found on Rigi at the time of his arrest tend to dispel conspiracy theories of Pakistan directly turning him over to Iranian authorities:

From Dawn: CNIC On Rigi Lands NADRA into Trouble

ISLAMABAD: The recovery of a Pakistani Computerised National Identity Card from the possession of Abdolmalek Rigi, an Iranian terrorist and head of Jundallah group, has put a question mark on the Nadra’s “self-proclaimed secure” registration system.

The card was recovered by Iranian security personnel when Rigi was arrested while travelling on a flight heading to an Arab country via Pakistan on Feb 23.

The interior ministry claimed that it was a fake card, and not issued by the National Database Registration Authority.

Iranian authorities are reported to have informed Pakistan about the recovery of the CNIC carrying photograph of Abdolmalek Rigi and sought an investigation into the matter, but the government did not make it public.

However, the interior ministry had to issue its point of view only when a TV channel telecast the news about Rigi’s identity card.

The recovery of CNIC from the terrorist leader has thrown a challenge to security of Nadra’s database and its official slogan “deception no more”.

At the time of arrest Rigi was allegedly carrying a CNIC bearing number 42201-5884556-1 issued in the name of Saeed Ahmed, son of Ghulam Haider. The card shows his year of birth as 1978.

A press release issued by the interior ministry said: “Rigi’s brother, also an Iranian national, possessed a fake national identity card of Pakistan, who was later extradited. Pakistan has always claimed that Rigi has not been staying here and the stance has been ratified by his recent arrest while holding Afghan passport.”

Rigi’s card was found to be original when checked through a general procedure of Nadra by simply sending an SMS message to a number, 7000.

A senior Nadra official told Dawn that the card was issued in 2004 while the authority had acquired the facility of biometrics and facial scanning in 2005.

The facility enables Nadra to record finger and thumb impressions as well as facial features.

He said Rigi’s card was fake because it showed a thumb impression on the card despite the fact the biometrics system in Nadra started working in 2005. No thumb impressions of applicants were taken before introduction of the system, he added.

The official also rejected reports that Nadra had issued over 25,000 fake CNICs to foreign nationals. “First of all, this is impossible and, secondly, Nadra has nothing to do with the registration of foreigners because it is done by the National Aliens Registration Authority (Nara).”

He said Nadra’s system was so secure that it foiled over 250 attempts of getting fake CNIC in a day. It had so far prevented from issuing over 85,000 fake cards, he added.

However, the official did not rule out the possibility that CNICs would have been issued to some Afghan nationals who were born in Pakistan and managed to get the cards on the basis of manual ID cards issued to their parents over two or three decades ago.

“But these manual ID cards cannot be used for any transaction and traced whenever they are used,” he added.

From Fars News Agency: Islamabad Denies Pakistani Nationality of Rigi

TEHRAN (FNA)- Pakistan's National Database and Registration Authority (NADRA) announced that the Pakistani ID-card of the ringleader of the Jundollah terrorist group, Abdolmalek Rigi, is fake, dismissing earlier media reports that Rigi was a Pakistani citizen.

Sources said that the Iranian Foreign Ministry had sent a letter of protest to Islamabad after a NADRA-issued card was retrieved from Rigi during his capture in Iran late February.

The Iranian Foreign Ministry protested at Islamabad for issuing a Pakistani ID-card for Rigi, saying it showed the country's cooperation with the terrorist gang.

While NADRA said Rigi has forged the mentioned document, Pakistan's state-run TV underlined the ID-card was original and issued by the Pakistani department.

A press release by Pakistan's interior ministry said Rigi's brother, Abdolhamid, an Iranian also has a fake Pakistani identity card.

Iranian authorities had earlier presented evidence to Islamabad that showed links between Pakistani intelligence services and the Jundollah terrorist group and called on Pakistani officials to capture and extradite Rigi to Tehran based on a mutual security agreement signed between the two neighboring countries.

The documents were based on the confessions made by Abdolhamid who is currently in prison in Iran.

Law Enforcement on 13 Aban - Video Analysis

by Mark Pyruz

Note: in this post, the categorization of the 13 Aban counter-demonstrations as an "unlawful assembly" is not intended in any way as a political statement. Rather it is used purely in its legal definition for which it is acted upon by Iranian law enforcement agencies.

In the few video clips and photos available from the (unlawful) Iranian counter-demonstrations of 13 Aban, Islamic Republic of Iran Police Force (IRIPF) and Basij personnel do not appear equipped with firearms. The emphasis appears to be on crowd dispersal (and in sporadic incidents, intimidation), rather than mass arrest operations. IRIPF do not engage in "caging" operations, nor do they deploy their water canon assets or rubber bullet ammunition (which are typically seen in comparative Western applications of crowd control). Below are notes accompanying uploaded video of Iranian law enforcement operations during 13 Aban:


Motorized IRIPF in action. Note "POLICE" black uniforms. One green uniformed IRIPF policeman is visible as a passenger on board a motorbike. Dispersal efforts appear to be the rule, rather than mass arrest.


Green uniformed IRIPF security detachment in antiriot gear. At approximately 2:04, the security police charge, successfully dispersing the unlawful assembly. After the demonstrators are forced back and dispersed, the security officers in this video do not appear overly aggressive, nor do arrest operations seem to be taking place.


Motorized IRIPF member outfitted in Iranian-equivalent DCU, tactical vest and conventional full-face motorcycle helmet. Female demonstrator is struck on the legs, ordered to change direction and disperse. This specific application of force (which may or may not be prescribed by IRIPF policy) appears to be inflicted as a means of corporal intimidation. Noteworthy is the fact she's not taken into custody.


At 0:22 an IRIPF first lieutenant (Sotvan yekom ستوان يكم) equipped with a baton strikes a female demonstrator in the head. Clear evidence of a breakdown in law enforcement discipline.

So far, the opposition website Mowjcamp claims that 23 people were arrested in Tehran and Rasht, which is a relatively low number for disturbances of this type. To put this into perspective, during the recent 2008 anti-G8 protest in Rostock, Germany, there were roughly 140 arrests, with 500 injured protesters and 400 injured policemen. Also, during the 2003 antiwar demonstrations in San Francisco, no less than 2,150 protesters were arrested. Admittedly, it is hard to gauge the overall proportionality of these three cases of civil disobedience.

Update: Fars and Mehr News Agency are reporting the Commander of Tehran police now states there were a total of 109 arrests, of which 43 have made bail and the rest remain detained.