Prosecutor says Iran has 18 law enforcement agencies

Iran Focus:

Tehran, Iran, Aug. 25 – Iran has 18 separate law enforcement and security agencies, according to the country’s top prosecutor.Persian-language websites reported on Thursday that Ghorban-Ali Dorri Najafabadi, the State Prosecutor, told journalists in Tehran, “There are about 18 different law enforcement agencies, and may be even more, in the country”.

Dorri Najafabadi, a Shiite cleric, is a former head of the Islamic Republic’s dreaded secret police, the Ministry of Intelligence and Security.

“Primarily, it is the State Security Forces, the Bassij, and certain branches of the Intelligence Ministry and Revolutionary Guards that are considered as law enforcement forces”, Dorri Najafabadi said.

Iran’s new hard-line chief of police announced in July that the Bassij, para-military vigilantes loyal to Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, had the authority to act as police. “The Bassij forces can assist agents of the State Security Forces in their activities”, Revolutionary Guards Brigadier General Ismail Ahmadi Moghaddam said.

Iran’s new Justice Minister Jamal Karimi-Rad went even further this month and extended recognition as “law enforcement agents” to members of the ultra-Islamist group, Ansar-e Hezbollah. The violent group, organised and led by close confidants of the Supreme Leader, such as Ayatollah Ahmad Jannati, act as the clerical regime’s “storm troopers” to put down anti-government demonstrations and instil terror in members of the public.