July 19, 2019
Reckless motorists who repeatedly violate traffic rules in Tehran are now being required for the first time to attend a remedial training course on driving and traffic laws.
Tehran Police Chief Brigadier General Hossain Rahimi told the Mehr news agency the training course was launched June 15.
“The courses will be run by over 230 traffic police officers who have been trained for educating reckless drivers,” he said.
The courses have the capacity to train 2,000 drivers daily. Classes will last 35 to 40 minutes and are compulsory for drivers whose vehicles have been towed or whose driving licenses have been seized by the police.
“The drivers will not receive their vehicles or driving licenses until they pass the training session,” he said.
Some on Iran V-ball team trouble US immigration
Iran’s national volleyball team finished in fifth place in this year’s global Volleyball Nations League competition, but not until after the team complained that US police had detained the team at Chicago’s O’Hare Airport on its arrival for the finals played there.
Iran won 12 of its 15 matches in the preliminary rounds played earlier this year to win a place among the six finalists assembled in Chicago. But in the finals, Iran lost to Poland 3-1 and to Brazil 3-2 in Pool B. The final standings placed Russia first, followed by the USA, Poland, Brazil, Iran and France.
Tehran news reports said the team complained that the 24-member team was detained for four hours at O’Hare Airport July 6 and “disrespectfully interrogated.”
Amir Khoshkhabar, the team manager, was quoted in the media as saying the detention came after 30 hours spent flying from Tehran to Chicago.
Khoshkhabar said the same thing had happened last year and the team had written the international and US volleyball federations to say “we will not tolerate similar problems.”
He said the airport police in Chicago treated the Iranians aggressively, separating the team members from other passengers and escorting them without offering any explanation.
He said, “They took our cellphones and forced us to give our PIN codes. Then they examined the posts and photos we had put on our social media pages, asking questions about our intentions and the content of posts.”
In Tehran, the Foreign Ministry said it had summoned the Swiss ambassador, who represents the US in Iran, to hear a protest about the athletes’ treatment. It said the United States should not be allowed to host international sports events if it cannot treat all teams “fairly and impartially.”
The Tehran media said Ary Graca, president of the International Volleyball Federation (FIVB), apologized in a letter to Iran, writing, “We are really ashamed of what has happened in Chicago airport.”
US Customs and Border Protection (CBP) said 20 members of the team were processed within 20 minutes of arrival and only four members were kept for further questioning. It did not say why they were singled out, though links to the Pasdaran are one reason Iranians are held up on arrival in the US.
In response to a query from the Iran Times, FIVB said, “Whilst many of the Iranian delegation were not detained for an unusual period, those that were allegedly detained are understandably upset.”
It said, “FIVB will discuss the alleged issues with relevant authorities to find ways of preventing this from happening at future FIVB events in the USA.”
It said nothing about being “ashamed.”
Some news accounts in Tehran cited the FBI as interrogating the Iranians, but CBP didn’t indicate that anyone other than its officers were involved.