Iran arrests three policemen in Tehran for ‘violent’ arrest of woman

Three Iranian policemen have been arrested in Tehran, state media reported on Sunday, after a video appearing to show the officers violently arresting a woman sparked outrage.

“The police officers who violently arrested a young woman in Lavasan in eastern Tehran have been detained,” the government-run Iran newspaper reported.

A short video has sparked anger in recent days on social media in Iran, showing three police officers forcing a woman into a police car. The date of the incident is unknown.

In the footage, a woman is seen screaming as she pleads to a man in civilian clothing, who pushes her to the ground in front of a police officer and another man in uniform.

During the incident, a “plainclothes policeman hits the hand of the young woman” and “forces her into the vehicle while threatening her,” the paper added.

Tehran Deputy Police Commander Morad Moradi called the officers’ behaviour “violent” and “contrary to police instructions,” but said the woman was suspected of drug possession.

Colonel Moradi said police became suspicious of the passengers of a vehicle after it began moving erratically, reported the Young Journalists Club, an agency affiliated with the state broadcaster.

The police attempted to stop them, but two women who were in the car — including the one who appeared in the video — fled without heeding the order and later resisted arrest, he added.

A case was opened after the discovery of “quantities of marijuana” in the “confiscated” vehicle, the colonel said.

On Saturday, the capital’s police chief, General Hossein Rahimi, ordered an investigation into the woman’s arrest, state news agency IRNA said.