Iran’s high-speed, Hollywood-worthy car chases
Issued on: Modified:
These car chases that are caught on camera are so incredible that they look like something out of the film series “The Fast and The Furious” or the video game “Need for Speed”. But these videos are actually from dashboard cameras mounted in Iran’s police cars as they hunt down suspects.
Videos released by the Iranian police show high-speed car chases, complete with criminals who fire at police and fleeing suspects who come within a few centimetres of other cars in their desperate bid to escape. The police publishes them to highlight their drug-busting capabilities and their aptitude at hunting down armed robbers.
One of the most impressive videos shows security forces pursuing suspected criminals down a highway in Tehran. The fleeing suspects fire at the police. Finally, the police shoot out the tires of the suspects’ car and bring the car chase to a finale in a small street in the Iranian capital - and without a single civilian casualty.
Video published by Iranian police.
Sima is an Iranian journalist:
Right now, there are lots of amateur videos showing thefts and other crimes, some quite violent, circulating on social media. We are also seeing rising crime rates in Iran. All of this has sparked a lot of talk about crime in the country and what the police are doing about it.
I think that the police are trying to use [the] media to respond to people’s criticisms. For me, this reality TV-style footage is a showy way for them to hide their weaknesses.
Another car chase video published by Iran's police.
Lieutenant-Colonel Babak, spokesperson for the Tehran police, told FRANCE 24 that he doesn’t agree.
This is nothing new; we’ve been sharing these kinds of videos for years. We just want to show citizens what we do to stop criminals. The presence and influence of criminals on social media is not very significant. We aren’t interested in taking the fight to the internet.
While Iran has moderate homicide and crime rates, the police are confronted with a large number of car thefts, car-jackings and lootings. There are also high rates of drug use and drug-related crimes.
Iran shares a long border with Afghanistan, which is one of the largest drug-producing nations in the world. According to reports published by the UN, the Iranian police carry out 80 per cent of opium seizures in the world and 30 per cent of heroin seizures.