Early modernization (mid-19th century – 1935) The origins of modern policing in Iran can be traced to the mid-nineteenth century during the
Qajar era (1789–1925), when reformist statesman
Amir Kabir (1807–1852) introduced early measures to improve public order and urban administration. These limited initiatives were followed by later efforts under the Qajars to establish a regular police service. Among them was the appointment of
Conte di Monteforte, an Austro-Hungarian officer, who organized uniformed patrols and attempted to modernize police procedures in
Tehran between 1878 and 1889. Building on these antecedents, the early twentieth century saw the creation of distinct policing institutions. In 1910, the
Iranian Gendarmerie was established as the first modern highway patrol and rural security force during the late Qajar period, while urban policing was handled by the
Nazmiyeh departments responsible for maintaining order within cities. Between 1911 and 1935 these forces were reorganized and centralized under the early
Pahlavi government. Foreign advisors—first Italians and later Swedes such as Gunnar Westdahl and Sven Bergdahl (1911–1916)—helped organize new police units and introduce European administrative and training models. After the First World War,
Reza Shah Pahlavi () moved to nationalize and centralize these forces, removing foreign control and placing policing under the Ministry of Interior. Police schools were created to train recruits, and the professional journal
Nazmiyeh (1925) was launched to promote standardized instruction, discipline, and modern forensic methods. By the mid-1930s, these reforms had transformed a patchwork of local
Nazmiyeh offices into a single, hierarchical, state-run organization known as the
Shahrbani (
Shahrbani-ye koll-e keshvar, National Police). This period is characterized as the decisive phase in which Iran’s policing was professionalized and integrated into the modern bureaucratic state, establishing the institutional foundation for later twentieth-century law-enforcement agencies.
Expansion and centralization under Mohammad Reza Shah (1953 – 1979) Intensely concerned with matters of internal security in the post-1953 environment,
Mohammad Reza Pahlavi authorized the development of one of the most extensive systems of law enforcement agencies in the developing world. The Imperial Iranian Gendarmerie and the
National Police gained in numbers and responsibilities. The secret police organization,
SAVAK, gained special notoriety for its excessive zeal in "maintaining" internal security. But as in the regular armed forces, the shah's management style virtually eliminated all coordination among these agencies. He tended to shuffle
army personnel back and forth between their ordinary duties and temporary positions in internal security agencies in order to minimize the possibility of any organized coups against the throne. Added to this list of institutional shortcomings was the agencies' all-important public image, cloaked in mystery and fear.
Revolution and reorganization (1979 – present) After the
1979 Revolution, the gendarmerie, which was renamed to the Islamic Republic of Iran Gendarmerie, numbered nearly 74,000 in 1979, and was subordinate to the
Ministry of Interior. Its law enforcement responsibilities extended to all rural areas and to small towns and villages of fewer than 5,000 inhabitants. The
International Institute for Strategic Studies estimated its manpower at 70,000 in 1986. The Gendarmerie was dissolved in 1990 and its personnel were assigned to the INP. The
National Police of Iran operated with approximately 200,000 men in 1979, a figure that has not fluctuated much since. The National Police was also under the Ministry of Interior, and its responsibilities included all cities with more than 5,000 in population, at least 20 percent of the population. Additionally, the National Police was responsible for passport and immigration procedures, issuance and control of citizens' identification cards, driver and vehicle licensing and registration, and railroad and airport policing. Some of these duties were absorbed into the Ministry of the
Pasdaran during the early years of the
Revolution, and cooperation between these two branches seemed extensive. Since 1979, both these paramilitary organizations have undergone complete reorganizations. IRP leaders quickly appointed Gendarmerie and police officers loyal to the Revolution to revive and reorganize the two bodies under the Islamic Republic. Between 1979 and 1983, no fewer than seven officers were given top National Police portfolios. Colonel Khalil Samimi, appointed in 1983 by the influential
Ali Akbar Nategh-Nouri, then Minister of Interior, who was credited with reorganizing the National Police according to the IRP's Islamic guidelines. The Gendarmerie followed a similar path. Seven appointments were made between 1979 and 1986, leading to a full reorganization. In addition to Brigadier General Ahmad Mohagheghi, the commander in the early republican period who was executed in late summer of 1980 and five colonels were purged. Colonel Ali Kuchekzadeh played a major role in reorganizing and strengthening the Gendarmerie after its near collapse in the early revolutionary period. The commander in 1987, Colonel Mohammad Sohrabi, had served in that position since February 1985 and was the first top officer to have risen from the ranks. As of 1987, the National Police and the Gendarmerie reflected the ideology of the state. Despite their valuable internal security operations, the roles of both bodies were restricted by the rising influence of the
Sepah and the
Basij. The Gendarmerie was disbanded in 1991, along with the
National Police and
Islamic Revolution Committees; all three of these organizations being merged into the present-day Law Enforcement Force. The Police–110 unit specializes in rapid-response activities in urban areas and dispersing gatherings deemed dangerous to public order. In 2003, some 400 women became the first female members of the police force since the 1978–79 Revolution. The current commander is IRGC-born
Brigadier General Hossein Ashtari, former first deputy chief of police under Esmail Ahmadi Moqaddam; he relieved his predecessor and was appointed by the Supreme Leader Ayatollah
Ali Khamenei on March 9, 2015. Per a
decree issued by
Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei, on 8 December 2021 Law Enforcement Force structure was promoted to that of a General Command in 2021, it was thus renamed "Law Enforcement Command of Islamic Republic of Iran". The Police Command of the Islamic Republic of Iran has been accused of using
excessive force and committing human rights violations in various contexts, including during protests, arrests, and interrogations. Reports and investigations have documented cases of physical violence, psychological abuse, and public humiliation of detainees. Human rights organizations have argued that these practices reflect systemic issues within the force, including a lack of accountability and the use of policing as a means of social control. On 31 October 2022,
Mélanie Joly,
Canada’s Minister of Foreign Affairs, announced that the Government of Canada was adding Police Command of the Islamic Republic of Iran to its sanctions list, in response to the police’s violent crackdown on the
Mahsa Amini protests, including the killing of hundreds of demonstrators. In August 2024 the Police Command ordered expelling of all unauthorized Afghan resident immigrants back to their country in one year. In another incident police allegedly broke an Afghan girl's neck. == Provincial Security Council ==