Ab-Titchaz
JF-Expert Member
- Jan 30, 2008
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In 2003 the first group of female cadets graduated from Irans police academy. Tehrans police chief Mohammad Baqer Qalibafnow the mayor of Tehranhad obtained permission from the countrys 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 academys graduation ceremony in 2005, a dramatic pageant, and a historical anomaly. During Qalibafs 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 years ceremony was limited to a parade, speeches, target practice, and the loading of revolvers by blindfolded policewomen graduates. No photographers were allowed.
The Paris Review - Dragnet Tehran