2008 Policing Tehran
posted by October 27 at 10:01 AM
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The day this turning world of ours ceases to surprise me is the day two pennies are placed on my eyes:
In 2003 the first group of female cadets graduated from Iran’s police academy. Tehran’s police chief Mohammad Baqer Qalibaf—now the mayor of Tehran—had obtained permission from the country’s spiritual leader, Ayatollah Khamenei, to create the all-female police units, and these policewomen were the products of a three-year training program. Abbas Kowsari was allowed to photograph the academy’s graduation ceremony in 2005, a dramatic pageant, and a historical anomaly. “During Qalibaf’s time as police chief,” the photographer said, “policewomen performed many martial arts and chase routines, including climbing walls and jumping out of the windows of moving cars. But after he stepped down, that training was eliminated. Last year’s ceremony was limited to a parade, speeches, target practice, and the loading of revolvers by blindfolded policewomen graduates. No photographers were allowed.”
Comments
I thought there were no lesbians in Iran.
That picture just kicked my face off. Fucking awesome.
I agree with Poe. If the picture had no context, I would assume it was from a movie. "From the files of Iranian Police Squad!"
Obama giving a speech right now, it's great how he ties together what's best of America talking of fighting hte depression ww2 and the civil rights struggle, ie, he owns and lets us own all those things together producing unity and national purpose not just 1970s era democratic constiuent-group agglomeration politics.
just sayin'
nice Mercedes Police car
Marjane Satrapi should totally do a graphic novel about this.
That is one of the most bad-ass pictures I have ever seen.
Great pic., but not without precedent. during the late stages of the prolonged Iran/Iraq war there were so few able-bodied Iranian men left the geovernment inducted and trained battalions of women for local defense militias.
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