Ahmad-Reza Radan | |
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Born | 1963 Isfahan, Pahlavi Iran |
Allegiance | Iran |
Service/ | Revolutionary Guards Law Enforcement Command |
Years of service | 1982– |
Rank | Brigadier general |
Battles/wars | Iran–Iraq War (WIA) |
Ahmad-Reza Radan (Persian: احمدرضا رادان) is an Iranian military officer who served as Iran's Chief of police, the chief commander of Law Enforcement Command of the Islamic Republic of Iran since January 2023. His father, of Afghan origin, immigrated to Iran from Afghanistan's Takhar province in 1950.
He was deputy commander of the Iranian police[1] and as Tehran's police chief, infamous for his crackdown on "unislamic" hair and dress style.[2]
Radan started his career as a member of Iranian Revolutionary Guards during the Iran–Iraq War, and he also served as a commander during the war. He also held various posts in the Islamic Republic of Iran Police (IRIP), including as police commander of Razavi Khorasan Province. During the war, he was injured more than four times but returned to war zone to defend his country against Iraqi forces.[citation needed]
Radan is well known for his actions on Islamic dress code and distribution of illegal drugs and controlling thug gangs. He served as police commander of Kurdistan Province, Sistan and Baluchestan Province, Khorasan Province, and also Tehran Province, the most crucial province in Iran.
In 2009, he opposed the Iranian Green Movement and was sanctioned by the United States, and later the European Union, for human rights abuses.[3]
Radan has been designated by the United States as a person who is, "among other things, responsible for or complicit in, or responsible for ordering, controlling, or otherwise directing, the commission of serious human rights abuses against citizens of Iran or their family members."[4]
Public Security Plan and Moralization Campaign
In 2007, Ahmad-Reza Radan launched a "Public Security Plan". The police arrested dozens of "thugs" to increase public security. The thugs were sometimes beaten on camera in front of neighborhood inhabitants or forced to wear hanging watering cans used for lavatory ablutions around their necks.[5] Among the arrested people was Meysam Lotfi, a young Iranian who was previously arrested during Iran student riots in July 1999 and jailed for 6 months. According to his parents, he has never had any criminal records or background of illegal activities, and has never been arrested or jailed before, omitting the 1999 riots event.[6][7][8][9] He was listed for execution, a sentence that was later changed to a three-year prison sentence after the media coverage and the attempts of his parents as well as human-rights activists.[10] His former lawyer was Abdolfattah Soltani.[6][11][12]
Syria
In 2011, he travelled to Damascus to support Syrian security services to aid in a crackdown against protests in Syria.[13][14]
Notes
- ^ "رادان از جانشینی فرمانده پلیس "کنار گذاشته شد" - فردا". رادیو فردا. Retrieved 2014-05-27.
- ^ "Iran cracks down on 'unIslamic' dress". Archived from the original on 2007-07-18. Retrieved 2013-05-21.
- ^ Farda, RFE/RL's Radio. "Iran's Leader Appoints Hard-Line Police Chief Blacklisted By U.S. For Rights Abuses". RadioFreeEurope/RadioLiberty. Retrieved 2023-11-15.
- ^ "Report to Congress: List of Persons Who Are Responsible for or Complicit in Certain Human Rights Abuses in Iran". United States Department of State. Retrieved 2022-01-27.
- ^ Thug” Crackdown Operation on way in Iran (ROOZ :: English) Archived October 7, 2007, at the Wayback Machine
- ^ a b "shahrzadnews.org". Archived from the original on 2016-01-21. Retrieved 2012-08-26.
- ^ "بازداشت مادر و خواهر ميثم لطفي، يكي از متهمان طرح امنيت اجتماعي". کمیتـه گزارشـگران حقـوق بشـر. Archived from the original on 2011-11-19. Retrieved 2012-08-26.
- ^ "همه زندانیان بازداشتگاه (سیاهچال) "سوله کهریزک" بیمارند و 8 تن از آنان در اثر شکنجه، عفونت زخم ها، گرسنگی و بیماری جان سپردند". Archived from the original on 2016-01-21. Retrieved 2012-08-26.
- ^ "۳۰۰ نفر از اهالی محل به بی آزاری میثم لطفی شهادت دادند". ایرانیان انگلستان.
- ^ "shahrzadnews.org". Archived from the original on 2016-01-21. Retrieved 2012-08-26.
- ^ "www.roshangari.net". Archived from the original on 2010-08-11. Retrieved 2012-08-26.
- ^ [1] Archived September 28, 2007, at the Wayback Machine
- ^ "Institute for the Study of War". Institute for the Study of War. Retrieved 2023-11-15.
- ^ "Treasury Sanctions Syrian, Iranian Security Forces for Involvement in Syrian Crackdown". U.S. Department of the Treasury. 2023-11-15. Retrieved 2023-11-15.
External links
- Iran Human Rights Documentation Center. "Violent Aftermath: The 2009 Election and Suppression of Dissent in Iran." Feb. 2010, New Haven, CT. https://web.archive.org/web/20100602191028/http://www.iranhrdc.org/httpdocs/English/pdfs/Reports/Violent%20Aftermath.pdf p. 51