| Police Command of the Islamic Republic Iran فرماندهی انتظامی جمهوری اسلامی ایران نیروی انتظامی جمهوری اسلامی ایران Fərmândēhiy-ē Ēntēzâmiy-ē Jomhuriy-ē Ēslâmiy-ē Irân Niruye Entezâmiye Jomhuriye Eslâmiye Irân | |
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 Official logo | |
 Official flag | |
 Ceremonial flag | |
| Common name | Iranian Police |
| Abbreviation | فراجا ناجا |
| Motto | كُونُواْ قَوَّامِينَ لِلّهِ شُهَدَاء بِالْقِسْط "Be steadfast witnesses for Allah in equity"[Quran 5:8] (Heraldry slogan) |
| Agency overview | |
| Formed | April 1, 1991 |
| Preceding agency |
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| Employees | 360,000 (includingconscripts andreserves)[1] |
| Jurisdictional structure | |
| National agency | Iran |
| Operations jurisdiction | Iran |
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| Map of Iran withprovince borders | |
| Size | 1,648,195 km2 (636,372 sq mi) |
| Population | 86,758,304 (2022) |
| Constituting instrument |
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| General nature | |
| Operational structure | |
| Minister responsible | |
| Agency executive |
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| Parent agency | General Staff of the Armed Forces |
| Notables | |
| Anniversary |
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| Website | |
| police | |
ThePolice Command of the Islamic Republic of Iran,[a][b] abbreviated asFARAJA (فراجا[fæɾɒːˈd͡ʒɒː]) orNAJA (ناجا), is the uniformedpolice force inIran. The force was created in early 1992 by merging theShahrbani (شهربانی,Šahrbâni),Gendarmerie (ژاندارمری,Žândârmeri), andIslamic Revolutionary Committees (کمیته انقلاب اسلامی,Komite enghlâb-e eslâmi) into a single force.
It has more than 260,000 police personnel, includingborder guard personnel, and is under the direct control of thesupreme leaderAli Khamenei, who is the head of state andCommander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces.[4] In 2003, some 40,000 women became the first female members of the police force since the 1979Iranian Revolution.[5] TheGuidance Patrol, commonly called the "morality police", is avice squad/Islamic religious police in the Law Enforcement Force of the Islamic Republic of Iran, established in 2005 with the task of arresting people who violate the Islamic dress code, usually concerning the wearing by women ofhijabs covering their hair.[6][7][8]
In an emergency, the police can be reached by dialing 110 from any telephone in Iran.
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The origins of modern policing in Iran can be traced to the mid-nineteenth century during theQajar era (1789–1925), when reformist statesmanAmir Kabir (1807–1852) introduced early measures to improve public order and urban administration. These limited initiatives were followed by later efforts under the Qajars to establish a regular police service. Among them was the appointment ofConte di Monteforte, an Austro-Hungarian officer, who organized uniformed patrols and attempted to modernize police procedures inTehran between 1878 and 1889.[9]
Building on these antecedents, the early twentieth century saw the creation of distinct policing institutions. In 1910, theIranian Gendarmerie was established as the first modern highway patrol and rural security force during the late Qajar period, while urban policing was handled by theNazmiyeh departments responsible for maintaining order within cities. Between 1911 and 1935 these forces were reorganized and centralized under the earlyPahlavi government. Foreign advisors—first Italians and later Swedes such as Gunnar Westdahl and Sven Bergdahl (1911–1916)—helped organize new police units and introduce European administrative and training models.[10]
After the First World War,Reza Shah Pahlavi (r. 1925–1944) moved to nationalize and centralize these forces, removing foreign control and placing policing under the Ministry of Interior. Police schools were created to train recruits, and the professional journalNazmiyeh (1925) was launched to promote standardized instruction, discipline, and modern forensic methods.[11]
By the mid-1930s, these reforms had transformed a patchwork of localNazmiyeh offices into a single, hierarchical, state-run organization known as theShahrbani (Shahrbani-ye koll-e keshvar, National Police). This period is characterized as the decisive phase in which Iran’s policing was professionalized and integrated into the modern bureaucratic state, establishing the institutional foundation for later twentieth-century law-enforcement agencies.[12]
Intensely concerned with matters of internal security in the post-1953 environment,Mohammad Reza Pahlavi authorized the development of one of the most extensive systems of law enforcement agencies in the developing world. The Imperial Iranian Gendarmerie and theNational Police gained in numbers and responsibilities. The secret police organization,SAVAK, gained special notoriety for its excessive zeal in "maintaining" internal security. But as in the regular armed forces, the shah's management style virtually eliminated all coordination among these agencies. He tended to shufflearmy personnel back and forth between their ordinary duties and temporary positions in internal security agencies in order to minimize the possibility of any organized coups against the throne. Added to this list of institutional shortcomings was the agencies' all-important public image, cloaked in mystery and fear.[citation needed]
After the1979 Revolution, the gendarmerie, which was renamed to the Islamic Republic of Iran Gendarmerie, numbered nearly 74,000 in 1979, and was subordinate to theMinistry of Interior. Its law enforcement responsibilities extended to all rural areas and to small towns and villages of fewer than 5,000 inhabitants. TheInternational Institute for Strategic Studies estimated its manpower at 70,000 in 1986. The Gendarmerie was dissolved in 1990 and its personnel were assigned to the INP.
TheNational Police of Iran operated with approximately 200,000 men in 1979, a figure that has not fluctuated much since. The National Police was also under the Ministry of Interior, and its responsibilities included all cities with more than 5,000 in population, at least 20 percent of the population. Additionally, the National Police was responsible for passport and immigration procedures, issuance and control of citizens' identification cards, driver and vehicle licensing and registration, and railroad and airport policing. Some of these duties were absorbed into the Ministry of thePasdaran during the early years of theRevolution, and cooperation between these two branches seemed extensive.
Since 1979, both these paramilitary organizations have undergone complete reorganizations. IRP leaders quickly appointed Gendarmerie and police officers loyal to the Revolution to revive and reorganize the two bodies under the Islamic Republic. Between 1979 and 1983, no fewer than seven officers were given top National Police portfolios. Colonel Khalil Samimi, appointed in 1983 by the influentialAli Akbar Nategh-Nouri, then Minister of Interior, who was credited with reorganizing the National Police according to the IRP's Islamic guidelines. The Gendarmerie followed a similar path. Seven appointments were made between 1979 and 1986, leading to a full reorganization. In addition to Brigadier General Ahmad Mohagheghi, the commander in the early republican period who was executed in late summer of 1980 and five colonels were purged. Colonel Ali Kuchekzadeh played a major role in reorganizing and strengthening the Gendarmerie after its near collapse in the early revolutionary period. The commander in 1987, Colonel Mohammad Sohrabi, had served in that position since February 1985 and was the first top officer to have risen from the ranks.
As of 1987, the National Police and the Gendarmerie reflected the ideology of the state. Despite their valuable internal security operations, the roles of both bodies were restricted by the rising influence of theSepah and theBasij. The Gendarmerie was disbanded in 1991, along with theNational Police andIslamic Revolution Committees; all three of these organizations being merged into the present-day Law Enforcement Force.
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The Police–110 unit specializes in rapid-response activities in urban areas and dispersing gatherings deemed dangerous to public order. In 2003, some 400 women became the first female members of the police force since the 1978–79 Revolution.[13]
The current commander is IRGC-bornBrigadier General Hossein Ashtari, former first deputy chief of police under Esmail Ahmadi Moqaddam; he relieved his predecessor and was appointed by the Supreme Leader AyatollahAli Khamenei on March 9, 2015.[citation needed]
Per adecree issued bySupreme LeaderAli Khamenei, on 8 December 2021 Law Enforcement Force structure was promoted to that of a General Command in 2021, it was thus renamed "Law Enforcement Command of Islamic Republic of Iran".[14]In August 2024 the Police Command ordered expelling of all unauthorized Afghan resident immigrants back to their country in one year.[15]In another incident police allegedly broke an Afghan girl's neck.[16]
The Provincial Security Council is the highest provincial security body and is made up of the justice administration chief as well as the provincial police chief; it has the task to manage matters pertaining to security.[17] The council has a provincial jurisdiction charged of managing police issues, ranging from public security issues[18][19][20] to handling of serious criminal cases.[21]
 | This article needs to beupdated. Please help update this article to reflect recent events or newly available information.(February 2024) |
All issues related to the Law Enforcement Force within the framework of the law are entrusted with theInterior Ministry; but in the areas of war, the authority lies with the Deputy Chief Commander of the Joint Forces.[22] Top Police officers are directly appointed by theSupreme Leader. Law Enforcement Force also consists of several different provincial deputies. Provincial commanders rank between Colonel[23] and Brigadier General,[24] while provincial branch heads rank Colonel.
The Police-110 unit specializes in rapid-response activities in urban areas and dispersing gatherings deemed dangerous to public order. Marine police have 100 inshore patrols and 50 harbor boats.
The Law Enforcement Force of the Islamic Republic of Iran has a number of branches, each with specialized duties:
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TheGuidance Patrol, widely known as the "morality police",[28] was avice squad/Islamic religious police in the Law Enforcement Force of the Islamic Republic of Iran, established in 2005 and allegedly dissolved in 2022, with the task of arresting people who violated the Islamic dress code, usually concerning the wearing by women ofhijabs covering their hair.[29] On December 3, 2022, the Attorney General of Iran,Mohammad Jafar Montazeri, said inQom that the police guidance patrol is not under the supervision of the judiciary system and it is closed now from where it was begun first.[clarification needed]
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| No. | Portrait | Commander-in-Chief | Took office | Left office | Time in office | Previous service |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 |  | Sohrabi, MohammadBrigadier general Mohammad Sohrabi | 1 April 1991 | 24 September 1992 | 1 year | Gendarmerie |
| 2 | | Seifollahi, RezaBrigadier general Reza Seifollahi | 24 September 1992 | 15 February 1997 | 4 years | Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps |
| 3 | | Lotfian, HedayatBrigadier general Hedayat Lotfian | 15 February 1997 | 27 June 2000 | 3 years | Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps |
| 4 |  | Ghalibaf, Mohammad BagherBrigadier general Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf (born 23 August 1961) | 27 June 2000 | 4 April 2005 | 4 years | Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps |
| - | .jpg) | Abdollahi, AliBrigadier general Ali Abdollahi Acting | 4 April 2005 | 9 July 2005 | 2 months | Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps |
| 5 |  | Ahmadi-Moghaddam, EsmailBrigadier general Esmail Ahmadi-Moghaddam (born 1961) | 9 July 2005 | 9 March 2015 | 9 years, 9 months | Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps |
| 6 |  | Ashtari, HosseinBrigadier general Hossein Ashtari (born 1959) | 9 March 2015 | 9 January 2023 | 7 years, 10 months | Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps |
| 7 | .jpg) | Radan, Ahmad-RezaBrigadier general Ahmad-Reza Radan (born 1963) | 9 January 2023 | present | 2 years, 323 days | Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps |
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The Police Command of the Islamic Republic of Iran has been accused of using excessive force and committing human rights violations in various contexts, including during protests, arrests, and interrogations. Reports and investigations have documented cases of physical violence, psychological abuse, and public humiliation of detainees. Human rights organizations have argued that these practices reflect systemic issues within the force, including a lack of accountability and the use of policing as a means of social control.[30][31][32][33]
On 31 October 2022,Mélanie Joly,Canada’s Minister of Foreign Affairs, announced that the Government of Canada was adding Police Command of the Islamic Republic of Iran to its sanctions list, in response to the police’s violent crackdown on theMahsa Amini protests, including the killing of hundreds of demonstrators.[34]
{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)"Gasht-e-Ershad," which translates as "guidance patrols" and is widely known as the "morality police," was a unit of Iran's police forces tasked with enforcing the laws on Islamic dress code in public.
This article incorporates text from this source, which is in thepublic domain. Country Studies.Federal Research Division.
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