September 12-14
The new commander of the police Special Squad,which is used to put down riots and demonstrations, says his men are now much better equipped than they were for the 2009 post-election protests, with gear that includes five different types of water guns with which to wash protesters off the streets.
Col. Hassan Karami was previously the head of the Esfahan Law Enforcement Forces. In July, he was named to lead the Special Squad.
Karami told the Tasnim news agency that the Special Squad’s equipment has been expanded and upgraded in the last five years since its big test after the 2009 elections.
“At the time of the sedition of 2009, we did not have secure vehicles that could enter the crowd without being damaged. There was always the possibility of damage to our personnel,” he said. ”Now, however, we are equipped with secure vehicles when we need to control the riots.”
Karami said the Special Squad’s equipment now includes tear gas, laughing gas and electronic noise-making machines. “Previously, we had a type of water spray that was called ‘heavy’ water spray. Now, however, we have five different types of water sprays—18 tons, 5 tons and 2 tons, as well as four-wheeled engines. We have a variety of water sprays and each of them can be used depending on the situation.”
National Police Chief Esmail Ahmadi-Moqaddam said last year that the Special Squad numbers 60,000 men, making it certainly one of the largest anti-riot squads in the world and showing just how concerned the regime is about street protests.
In the United States, police forces don’t have full-time riot squads but cross-train ordinary police forces for that duty. The infrequency of riot duty means they often are not all that good at it, as showed recently in Ferguson, Missouri, whose 53-man police force had never faced a riot before this summer.
The Special Squad did not win a lot of kudos for its conduct in 2009 when it was ordered into student dormitory areas the second night of the protests.
A member of the Islamic Iran Partnership Party that supported President Khatami before it was forcibly disbanded five years ago, told Al-Monitor, “The members of the Special Squad, who were there to protect innocent civilians, were being so violent that paramilitary forces such as the Basij and Ansar-e Hezbollah, who are famous for their brutality, were screaming at them not to beat the students anymore.”
A journalist who was present in the demonstrations said of the Special Squad’s role, “It is true that they were quite brutal and the way they were beating people could have resulted in brain damage, serious injuries or even death. However, I don’t remember them shooting at people. That part was done by members of the Basij and Pasdaran.”
In his interview with Tasnim, Karami acknowledged mistakes made by the Special Squad in the past and said those mistakes happened because the unit was not “with the people.”
He said, “Back in 2009, the Special Squad made some mistakes from time to time, but then every time the Law Enforcement Forces entered the scene to make up for it. For example, if they had broken the door of a house, we [regular police] would immediately send a team to compensate the owners. Of course, a lot of people would not accept any money and that is because the Special Squad wasn’t with the people.”
Karami said he does not think the election of President Rohani is the reason for the current calm. “I don’t think we can link it to the election of a new president. There has been a process and it shows that our people have reached a level of maturity. They look at the unstable situations in the neighboring countries and compare it with the stability that exists inside Iran. This motivates them to cooperate with the government.”