The Special Units Command (), acronymed YEGUP (), is a subdivision of the Police Command of the Islamic Republic of Iran in charge of its special units.
The Special Units were involved in the post-election protest suppression in 2009 and have forcefully put down multiple nationwide protests.
According to identifications carried out by opposition sources, Special Units wear black military uniforms.
Iranian Police Special Units were established in 1991, after the disbanding of the previous law enforcement forces and the establishment of the then-Law Enforcement Force of the Islamic Republic of Iran.
The Special Units, with roots in the Islamic Revolution Committees, were led by Mojtaba Abdollahi from their establishment until 2012.
The Special were deployed for the first time in Mashhad in 1992. In 1994, the Special Units quelled riots in Qazvin, and in 1995 they confronted a major protest by bus and truck drivers in Eslamshahr. In 1999 Special Units were involved in confronting the 1999 protest movement.
The disputed 2009 Iranian presidential election led to the 2009 Iranian presidential election protests and to the massive deployment of Special Units.
In 2012, Mojtaba Abdollahi left the command to Second Brigadier General Hassan Karami. During massive nationwide protests that rocked Iran between December 2017 and January 2018, the Special Units were again massively deployed.
In on 7 December 2021, Iranian Police Special Units were sanctioned by the United States.
The Special Unit has been described as the "most repressive anti-riot force of the Islamic RepublicâÂÂ. The history of the unit roughly corresponds to the span of street uprisings during the Islamic Republic. While the affiliated committees had gained notoriety for arrests, raids on private parties, and street checkpoints, the Special Unit transformed all these activities into armed confrontations with protesters and criticsâÂÂinto shootings and massacres of such people in the streets. According to statistics from organizations such as Amnesty International, at least 304 people were killed by security forces in just three days during the November 2019 protests, and the forces deployed by the government to the streets were mostly members of the Special Unit and plainclothes agents. By 2021, the Special Unit of the Law Enforcement Command had taken part in eight major crackdowns on protests. In one of the bloodiest street suppressions in the history of the Islamic Republic, which occurred over just three days between November 15 and 17, 2019, the Special Unit was the principal force deployed to the streets for repression. Esmaeil Ahmadi-Moghaddam, former commander of the Law Enforcement Force, stated that during the Tasua and Ashura demonstrations of 2009 by supporters of the Green Movement, a police vehicle ran over civilians.
These killings and acts of violence have been accompanied by human rights sanctions. For instance, in April 2021, Hassan Karami, commander of the Special Units of IranâÂÂs Law Enforcement Force (NAJA); Hossein Ashtari, commander of the Law Enforcement Command of the Islamic Republic; Gholamreza Ziaei, head of Evin Prison; and several others were added to the European UnionâÂÂs human rights sanctions list for their role in the violent suppression of the November 2019 protests in Iran.
On the other hand, in August 2014, Hassan Karami, commander of the Special Units of IranâÂÂs Law Enforcement Force, acknowledged that âÂÂmistakesâ had been committed by the Special Unit during the post-election protests of 2009. Karami described the âÂÂnon-popular nature of the Special Unitsâ as the reason for these âÂÂincidents.â In one video released on the internet, Special Unit officers are seen attacking a civilian vehicle with batons, until another officer (apparently from a different agency) intervenes to stop them.
Following the nationwide protests of 2022 and the death of Mahsa Amini, several human rights researchers reported that the Special Unit systematically used sexual violence against detained protesters. A December 2023 report by Amnesty International documented multiple cases in which detainees were subjected to sexual assault, including gang rape, during arrest, inside transport vehicles, and within detention facilities. These abuses affected both women and men, including minors, and involved severe sexual torture.
One detainee, named Zahra, told Amnesty International that while inside a van operated by the Special Unit, an officer pulled down her pants in the presence of other female prisoners and raped her. She added that she witnessed another officer ordering two handcuffed women in the same van to perform oral sexual acts, and when one of the women refused, the officer dragged her out of the van by her hair. Independent investigations found that these violations were not isolated incidents but part of a deliberate strategy by the Special Unit to punish, intimidate, and humiliate protesters, with sexual violence employed as a deliberate tool of repression.
During the 2022 Iran uprising, the Islamic Republic systematically and deliberately wounded hundreds of people in the streets of Iran with pellet and paintball bullets. Now, more than a year later, protesters injured in their eyes continue to suffer in agony, left without proper medication or treatment, enduring what can be described as torture.
The Iranian police special units command groups units and organizations tasked with crowd and riot control and protest suppression. They also assist territorial or other specialist police units.
The Special Units Command consists of riot units as well as of specialist units for hostage rescue, mounted police, riot police, police dog, airborne, etc.
The Special Units Command headquarters are in Tehran, and its commander is Brigadier General Hasan Karami since 2012. The number of Special Units Command troops has never been disclosed. According to Brigadier General Karami, 20,000 troops were deployed to provide security to the Arba'een ceremony in 2019.
Individual special units throughout Iran depend on the Special Units Command for administrative and training purposes. Nearly half of the personnel of the Special Units are based in Tehran, either in the national-level units and in the Tehran provincial Special Unit.
There are three Special Units with tasks extending to the whole Iranian territory. These units have names dwawn from Shia tradition: Mûsâ ibn JaâÂÂfar, Imam Hussein, and Amër al-Mu'minën.
The 1st Amir al-Momenin Brigade is considered the premier Special Unit within FARAJA. The operational jurisdiction is the whole national territory of Iran. Its headquarters are in Afsarieh, Tehran. Currently, the command of the 1st Amir al-Momenin Brigade is under the responsibility of Colonel Yahya Hasikhani.
A Special unit exists in all the 31 provinces of Iran. The special unit is under the operational control of the police command of the relevant province and, in terms of training and general command, under the national-level command.
In Tehran area, the special units are under the operational control of the police command in charge for Greater Tehran. There are three units based in Tehran:
Under the Iranian Police Special Units Command there are some specialist units:
The operational approach of the Special Units is complex and it involves and integrated cooperation with other branches, as well as other governmental or quasi-governmental organizations. Overall, the ultimate aim is to anticipate and prevent, or neutralise, protests and their potential harm.
Riot-control operations are organised according the intelligence-led policing model, with special attention placed on demography and geography of the target areas, as well as potential tactical threats posed by the operation with specific regard to the operational area itself.
According to Brigadier General Hassan Karami, then-Commander of the Special Units Command, the tactical approach of riot police forces is to conduct ostensive patrols while fully equipped and deployed for engagement with rioters and protesters. This approach is aimed to lower the protesters' morale and resolve to confront police.
The cooperation with other organizations, such as the Basij, is key to perform plainclothes infiltration and snatch arrests of the riot leaders.
The Special Units Command is one of the most ideologized in the Iranian armed forces. According to Prague-based journalist Behnam Gholipour, field commanders motivate actions of their subordinate personnel by using religious justifications.