Hassan Karami, the commander of the special police units in the Iranian regime, announced on Friday, October 27, 2023, during an interview with state-run media, the launch of a smart facial recognition system to facilitate the identification of citizens participating in street protests. He also disclosed efforts to enhance the accuracy of domestic weapons for crowd control.
It appears that the regime’s security and military authorities have allocated substantial resources in recent months to equip their police forces, Basij, and plainclothes units with the aim of detaining, suppressing, and, in some cases, inflicting harm on protesting citizens. This investment is driven by concerns over the resurgence of street protests against the regime, similar to those that began in September of the previous year.
Karami highlighted that the “Masaf” system had been integrated into the special police units program three years ago, with a primary focus on enhancing police intelligence. He further elaborated, “This program comprises 12 subcategories, each designed to make the police more intelligent and to dictate the requirements for special units accordingly.”
“One of the initiatives within this program involves the development of weapons designed to target and accurately identify the characteristics of a given target, estimate range and distance in conflict situations, and improve precision in striking the target,” Karami explained. “These weapons will be designated for use by the NOPO forces, the anti-terrorist special forces, to address terrorist threats. The new system is expected to significantly reduce the costs associated with handling these situations by intelligently and electronically identifying the leaders and instigators of disorder.”
The Faraja Special Forces Command, a division under the regime’s Law Enforcement Command established in 1991, is notorious for its ruthless approach to dealing with public protests. In recent years, these forces have been responsible for the deaths of over a thousand protesting citizens in Iran, either through gunfire or physical violence on the streets.
Furthermore, the commander of the special police units in the regime proudly announced the successful production of a domestically developed laser weapon, marking a significant achievement. He emphasized that this weapon is entirely indigenous and has been designed and manufactured by the Ministry of Defense of the regime, with mass production already underway.
Regarding the features of the “Masaf” system, Karami added, “One of its notable capabilities is assisting special forces in managing conflicts and riots through facial recognition. It can analyze an individual’s characteristics, such as their duration of presence at a location, any accompanying objects like cold or warm weapons, and even gender.
“This enables precise identification, helping authorities determine their objectives. The system offers a comprehensive solution that can identify key actors and inciters, thus enabling more cost-effective management of disturbances and the restoration of public peace.”
It’s worth noting that the regime’s authorities consistently refer to the non-violent protests against the regime as ‘riots.’ They employ the same justification used during the national uprising of 2022 to violently suppress and even massacre protesters.
In recent years, the regime’s authorities have considerably curtailed freedom of assembly and expression. They have responded to widespread protests with excessive and deadly force, leading to the arrest of thousands of protesters.
In most protests, security forces employed shotguns, assault rifles, and handguns against protesters in largely peaceful and often crowded settings. The regime has also intensified its crackdown on student activists, resulting in several of them receiving prison sentences or facing threats of being barred from continuing their education, a punitive measure aimed at quelling peaceful student activism.
In nearly all protests, the regime has disrupted mobile and internet connections to quash protest movements.
