Deputy National Police Chief Ahmed-Reza Radan said security forces totaling 110,000 men would be in the capital to impose security. That is more than four times the size of the police force of New York City and about the triple the security deployed earlier this month for the Olympics in London.
Radan said about 360 checkpoints were set up around the city to stop and search cars—an obvious scheme to foil any anti-government protests.
Some opposition groups said it would be good to stage protests while foreign diplomats were in town to see them—and the government seemed to fear just that.
Mehrabad Airport, which only handles domestic flights now, was closed for the summit, presumably to eliminate the chance that any domestic flights would conflict with the many unscheduled special flights bearing foreign delegations to Imam Khomeini Airport.
The government urged residents to get out of city for the duration of the event. It closed all government offices, banks and schools from Tuesday through Saturday and encouraged private businesses to close. Then it electronically added 30 liters (eight gallons) of subsidized gasoline to the gasoline cards of Tehranis and urged them to use the extra fuel to get out of town.
However, that message to leave doesn’t apply to hospital staff. Their vacations have been canceled for the duration.
The delegations arriving at the meeting venue were greeted by a special exhibit—not a display of Persian carpets to impress them, but three twisted and wrecked cars that were bombed while Iranian nuclear scientists were riding in them.
Police have also been sweeping up street people and sending them to a camp outside Tehran so the delegations won’t see the underbelly of Tehran. This is nothing new; the Shah’s regime used to do the same thing before any major international gathering. The Welfare Organization said 1,400 people had been picked up.
As is normal all around the world at such events, the government has deployed an army of gardeners and street sweepers to spruce up the place. Many public buildings have a fresh coat of paint. So do lampposts. Lane markings in roadways have been re-painted.
There are also Soviet-style banners and billboards like the one reading: “Nonaligned Move-ment represents the struggle against racism, colonialism, hegemony and foreign oppression.
A balloon floats over Haft-e Tir Square displaying the message: “Iran, a peaceful and kind nation.”
The day before the first NAM session opened, National Police Chief Esmail Ahmadi-Moqaddam announced that his officers had arrested some people who planned “to disrupt the order of the NAM summit.” He did not say how many were arrested.