 | The Medes and the Persians are getting the gummint they deserve, I see... |
Iran's supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei has appointed a former Revolutionary Guards and Basij militia commander as the new head of the national police force. Police in Tehran declared they were to embark on a fresh crackdown targeting "open examples of corruption in tourist and recreation resorts" around the Iranian capital. Quoted by the student news agency ISNA, a top police official said his forces would be on the hunt for "badly-veiled or unveiled individuals in and outside cars", "sound pollution" and "shops and public places that ignore public chastity and Islamic values".
| In other words, any place people are having fun. |
The report said the summer anti-vice police sweep -- a regular event -- would also involve "collecting runaway girls and vagabond women and identifying places where corrupt people gather".
| I always cruised for corrupt vagabond women in the summer myself |
State television said Brigadier General Esmail Ahmadi-Moqaddam, 44, will take over from Mohammad Baqer Qalibaf, who quit as police chief to make a run for the Islamic republic's presidency in last month's elections.
| "No, you can't have your old job back!" |
According to state television, Ahmadi-Moqaddam was appointed because of his "revolutionary record and commitments in the past years".
| "He's a consistent nutbag. None o' that waverin' for him!" |
"One of the most important duties of this force is to establish the nationwide security that the Islamic republic deserves and a calm and secure atmosphere for everyone," the supreme leader noted in the order.
| "We do that by cracking heads." |
Ayatollah Khamenei, who as Iran's commander-in-chief also appoints key law enforcement and military officials, called on Ahmadi-Moqaddam to promote the quality of the police by hiring "faithful, revolutionary and efficient elements."
| "No more Mister Nice-guys!" |
Iranian media said Ahmadi-Moqaddam has served as commander of the Basij militia in Tehran and as acting Revolutionary Guards chief for the Basij militia, a hardline volunteer force. He was on the frontline for the entire period of the 1980-88 Iran-Iraq war, battled Iranian opposition groups and has also held senior commanding positions in the national police. He also holds a doctorate in strategic management from a military academy.
| He's made his bones and just got promoted to top enforcer. It's gonna be a long hot summer in Iran. |
Qalibaf had headed the police since 1999, during which he was credited with sprucing up the force by acquiring a huge fleet of Mercedes Benz police cars and a wardrobe of neat uniforms. Under Qalibaf's command, women also joined the police for the first time, and he acquired a populist image by reportedly visiting Iranian cities in plain clothes and getting himself arrested as part of a personal bid to root out corrupt officers. But Qalibaf also came under fire for continued reports of police brutality and his alleged backing of a crackdown on pro-democracy student demonstrators six years ago. | That would be one of his good points to the mullahs |
His expensive presidential bid -- which saw him reinvent himself from a uniformed hardliner into a populist technocrat -- was unsuccessful. He came a disappointing fourth out of seven candidates in the first round of the polls. The presidency was eventually won by hardliner Mahmood Ahmadinejad, who thrashed top cleric Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani in the June 24 run-off. |