The NOPO ( fa, نوپو) officially standing for Counter-terrorism Special Force ( fa, نیروی ویژه پاد وحشت), and in some sources Guardians of the Islamic Jurist Special Forces ( fa, نیروهای ویژه پاسداران ولایت) is an Iranian special force acting under ''Amīr al-Mu'minīn Unit'' of Special Units Command of

Law Enforcement Command of Islamic Republic of Iran , mottotranslated = "Be steadfast witnesses for Allah in equity" ( Heraldry slogan) , formedyear = 1991 , formedmonthday = April 1 , preceding1 = Shahrbani (1913–1991) Gendarmerie (1910–1991)Committee (1979–1991) , e ...

. NOPO's duty is usually mentioned

hostage rescue A hostage is a person seized by an abductor in order to compel another party, one which places a high value on the liberty, well-being and safety of the person seized, such as a relative, employer, law enforcement or government to act, or refr ...

, but it is argued that the unit is a

riot police Riot police are police who are organized, deployed, trained or equipped to confront crowds, protests or riots. Riot police may be regular police who act in the role of riot police in particular situations or they may be separate units organize ...

, as it was involved in

Iran student protests, July 1999 The Iranian student protests of July 1999 (also known as 18th of Tir and Kuye Daneshgah Disaster ( fa, فاجعه کوی دانشگاه) in Iran) (7–13 July)

according to a report by

Supreme National Security Council Supreme National Security Council (SNSC; fa, شورای عالی امنیت ملی ''Showrāye Āliye Amniyate Mellī'' also ''Supreme Council for National Security'') is the national security council of the Islamic Republic of Iran, the current ...

. The unit has been compared to the

Army An army (from Old French ''armee'', itself derived from the Latin verb ''armāre'', meaning "to arm", and related to the Latin noun ''arma'', meaning "arms" or "weapons"), ground force or land force is a fighting force that fights primarily on ...

's NOHED and

IRGC The Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC; fa, سپاه پاسداران انقلاب اسلامی, Sepāh-e Pāsdārān-e Enghelāb-e Eslāmi, lit=Army of Guardians of the Islamic Revolution also Sepāh or Pasdaran for short) is a branch o ...

Saberin Unit The Saberin Takavar Brigade ( fa, گردان تکاور صابرين; meaning ''Steadfasts Commando Battalions'') also known as Saberin Unit is an elite Takavar unit in the Ground Forces of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps. It is considered on ...

by its commanders. However, there is little known about the unit. The NOPO is also often confused with the " Special Unit", which is actually its parent organization, and there are many rumors surrounding the unit itself. The NOPO acronym had been claimed to be an

acronym An acronym is a word or name formed from the initial components of a longer name or phrase. Acronyms are usually formed from the initial letters of words, as in ''NATO'' (''North Atlantic Treaty Organization''), but sometimes use syllables, as ...

for "''

Wilayat A wilayah ( ar, وَلاية, wālāya or ''wilāya'', plural ; Urdu and fa, ولایت, ''velâyat''; tr, vilayet) is an administrative division, usually translated as "state", "province" or occasionally as " governorate". The word comes f ...

Guardian Special Force''" ( fa, نیروی ویژه پاسدار ولایت) by

reformist Reformism is a political doctrine advocating the reform of an existing system or institution instead of its abolition and replacement. Within the socialist movement, reformism is the view that gradual changes through existing institutions can eve ...

media in late 1990s; the association was denied. Members of the unit are known to be wearing balaclava and black suits, though they may use another uniform.

History

The operational history of the Anti-Terror Special Forces includes deployments against internal security threats.

Weapons

Members of the unit are known to use the Tondar SMG 9mm which is the Iranian made

Heckler & Koch MP5 The Heckler & Koch MP5 (german: Maschinenpistole 5) is a 9x19mm Parabellum submachine gun, developed in the 1960s by a team of engineers from the German small arms manufacturer Heckler & Koch. There are over 100 variants and clones of the MP5, ...

. Members have also been seen with the

Dragunov SVD The SVD (russian: Сна́йперская Винто́вка систе́мы Драгуно́ва образца́ 1963 года, lit=Sniper Rifle, System of Dragunov, Model of the Year 1963, translit=Snáyperskaya Vintóvka sistém'y Dragunóv ...

7.62×54mmR The 7.62×54mmR is a rimmed rifle cartridge developed by the Russian Empire and introduced as a service cartridge in 1891. Originally designed for the bolt-action Mosin–Nagant rifle, it was used during the late tsarist era and throughout t ...

which is the sniper utilized by the unit which has also been spotted in the hands of members when marching in parade. The locally made copy of the

Heckler & Koch G3 The Heckler & Koch G3 (''Gewehr'' 3) is a 7.62×51mm NATO, select-fire battle rifle developed in the 1950s by the German armament manufacturer Heckler & Koch (H&K) in collaboration with the Spanish state-owned design and development agency CET ...

7.62×51mm is also used, sometimes in the case of a marksman rifle. The sidearm utilized is the Zoaf PC-9 which is the Iranian copy of the

SIG Sauer P226 Sig used as a name may refer to: *Sig (given name) *Sig, Algeria, a city on the banks of the Sig River *Sig Alert, an alert for traffic congestion in California, named after Loyd Sigmon *Sig River, a river of Algeria also known as Mekerra sig (lo ...

. Other weapons used include the

AKM The AKM () is an assault rifle designed by Soviet small arms designer Mikhail Kalashnikov in 1959. It is the most ubiquitous rifle of the Kalashnikov rifles. It was developed as a replacement to the AK-47 introduced a decade prior. Introduced ...

7.62×39mm The 7.62×39mm (aka 7.62 Soviet, formerly .30 Russian Short) round is a rimless bottlenecked intermediate cartridge of Soviet origin. The cartridge is widely used due to the worldwide proliferation of Russian SKS and AK-47 pattern rifles, as ...

assault rifle and the

Remington 870 The Remington Model 870 is a pump-action shotgun manufactured by Remington Arms Company, LLC. It is widely used by the public for shooting sports, hunting and self-defense, as well as by law enforcement and military organizations worldwide. De ...

shotgun which was acquired before the

Iranian Revolution The Iranian Revolution ( fa, انقلاب ایران, Enqelâb-e Irân, ), also known as the Islamic Revolution ( fa, انقلاب اسلامی, Enqelâb-e Eslâmī), was a series of events that culminated in the overthrow of the Pahlavi dynas ...

and is believed to be produced locally under another name. Iranian-made Masaf rifle is also used since 2022.

References

Special forces of Iran Law Enforcement Command of Islamic Republic of Iran Counterterrorism in Iran {{iran-stub