Iranian “supreme leader” Mojtaba Khamenei, who has not been seen in public since being named dictator, published a written message on Friday to celebrate National Police Week, celebrating the repression of his people to maintain “social order.”
Khamenei’s message declared that being part of Iran’s police force, which includes the notorious and deadly “morality police,” was a form of “jihad on the path of God” and that the police deserved the same praise as the terrorist Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) and the Iranian Armed Forces. It claimed that Iran is still facing “desperate efforts and malicious attacks” from the inside, apparently a reference to the protests that rocked the country in the first half of the year, which some estimates suggest resulted in tens of thousands of people killed by police.
“Ensuring security in the various parts of our beloved Iran… is indebted to the valor and courage of the selfless, hardworking personnel of the Police Force, which is one of the firm pillars of the country’s security,” the statement allegedly written by Khamenei read. “This security provides the necessary conditions for various aspects of social and moral well-being along with public welfare in society. In addition to being a form of jihad on the path of God, such a valuable service enjoys strong social support.”
“It is often the case that the efforts and sacrifices of those who safeguard security are taken for granted by some people, and it’s precisely this state of being wronged and unrecognized that amplifies their reward in the sight of God,” the statement continued, apparently a reference to widespread public disgust with the various repressive forces in the country.
“The oppressed but powerful nation of Iran is appreciative of the tireless efforts and endeavors of those who serve to safeguard the country’s security,” the statement concluded. “A comprehensive strengthening of the forces responsible for safeguarding security in all respects, including human resources, hardware, and software… plays an important role in improving the ability of the Police Force to carry out its missions and facilitates its work.”
The National Police, previously referred to as the “Law Enforcement Forces of Iran,” are separate from the IRGC and its domestic arm, the Basij, but participate in repression in particular through its “morality police,” which persecute women in particular for “crimes” such as improperly wearing hijabs. The U.S. government has repeatedly sanctioned the Iranian police forces and their leadership throughout the past decade.
Among the most recent sanctions was a series of actions by the U.S. Treasury Department following the brutal killing of 22-year-old Mahsa Amini, a Kurdish woman apprehended by the “morality police” for wearing her hijab too loosely. Police beat her to death during an interrogation related to the stop.
“Iran’s Morality Police is the component of Iran’s Law Enforcement Forces (LEF) tasked with enforcing the country’s laws against immodesty and societal vices,” the Treasury explained at the time. “The LEF, the Iranian government’s main security apparatus dedicated to crowd control and protest suppression, played a key role in the crackdown on protesters in the aftermath of the disputed Iranian presidential election in 2009.”
Amini’s killing prompted a massive wave of protests nationwide in 2023, which Iranian leaders suppressed by arresting and killing protesters. The protests were quelled only temporarily as a wave of national unrest erupted once again in December 2025, exacerbated by out-of-control inflation and the collapse of the rial currency.
Once again, Iranian police responded to the protests by killing large numbers of Iranian youth taking the streets unarmed. The Iranian regime admitted in January that at least 5,000 people had been killed in the protests but mostly blamed protesters for the violence. Some Iranian dissident groups claimed the real death toll was upwards of 10,000, not counting those processed through Iranian courts and later executed. The latest of these known is the case of 25-year-old Alireza Sepahi, arrested for protesting in Isfahan on January 8 and hanged on Monday.
Iranian police officials did not hide their violent intentions against political dissidents. In March, National Police Chief Ahmad-Reza Radan issued alarming statements threatening to treat any Iranian who disagreed with the government as an “enemy.”
“If anyone comes forward in line with the wishes of the enemy, we will no longer see them as merely a protester, we will see them as an enemy,” he declared. “And we will do to them what we do to an enemy. We will deal with them in the same way we deal with enemies. All our forces are also ready, with their hands on the trigger, prepared to defend their revolution.”
The latest message from Mojtaba Khamenei once again does not clarify the alleged supreme leader’s status. Khamenei, son of the late dictator Ali Khamenei, has not been seen in public since he was announced the leader of the country in March, nor has he appeared on camera or released any audio or video messages. The silence has fueled a wide variety of rumors that he may be significantly injured, disfigured from American airstrikes, or otherwise not in a position to run the country.