Announcement of 'Public Disarmament Plan' Implementation in Dezful

Simultaneously with the announcement of the discovery of nearly 'three thousand illegal firearms' during the first nine months of this year in Khuzestan, an official from the Dezful governorate announced on Tuesday, December 24, the implementation of the 'Public Disarmament Plan' in this county. Haidar Abbaszadeh, the police chief of Khuzestan province, warned the owners of 'illegal firearms and shooting perpetrators' in the province that they will face 'decisive action.' According to Abbaszadeh, in order to enhance public security in Khuzestan province, '24 plans' for collecting illegal weapons and ammunition have been executed over the past nine months, resulting in the arrest of '2325 individuals.' He identified these individuals as 'owners of illegal firearms and shooting perpetrators' and added that in these operations, '494 military weapons and two thousand 236 hunting rifles (a total of two thousand 730 illegal firearms) were discovered and seized.' Mohammad Heydari, the acting governor of Dezful, also referred to armed robberies and shootings in the area over the past two months, stating: 'With a principled program developed by the Dezful Security Council, the public disarmament plan will be implemented in this county.' He noted that recent armed incidents in Dezful have 'disturbed the public's peace; therefore, the Security Council has intervened in managing and reducing these incidents and has approved several structured and principled plans that will be executed in the coming days.' Heydari added that due to the 'specific and different conditions' in Dezful, 'the visible effects of these security and order plans compared to what the criminals are doing will naturally take some time.' He did not elaborate on these 'specific conditions' but warned the 'disturbers of order' in Dezful that 'with the implementation of various plans and strategies, we will not allow them to act boldly, audaciously, and maliciously.' The acting governor of Dezful also requested the police commander of the area to disrupt the mindset of those intending to create insecurity through 'structured and coordinated planning and psychological operations, so that those who intend to create insecurity do not even see an opportunity for this in their minds.' He stated that 'most violent crimes in Dezful are committed by professional and experienced criminals,' and 'their numbers are not large.' This official emphasized that until the 'Public Disarmament Plan' is implemented, the county police 'must confront armed robberies with emergency plans and especially the plans approved by the Security Council.' News of armed clashes and shootings in cities of Khuzestan province, especially Dezful, is commonly reported in Iranian media. Some of these clashes are tribal, while others are aimed at theft and committed by 'criminals.' Armed conflicts and attacks in Khuzestan are so prevalent that on December 7 of this year, the head of Police Station 20 in Dezful was killed by gunfire during a confrontation with a 'notorious criminal.' Earlier this year, a Telegram channel of Ayatollah Kabi, a representative from Khuzestan in the Assembly of Experts, reported on an 'armed attack on the Imam Hussein Scientific and Cultural Center in Ahvaz.' According to the weapon carrying punishment law, 'importing any type of weapon, ammunition, controlled items, and materials into the country, exporting them, manufacturing, assembling, storing, carrying, distributing, repairing, and any transaction without the permission of the relevant authorities is a crime, and the perpetrator is subject to the penalties specified in this law.' The law defines weapons and ammunition as 'various types of military and hunting firearms, both lethal and non-lethal, and their related ammunition.' Based on this law, imprisonment and fines are prescribed for carrying firearms, but the length of imprisonment and the amount of fines depend on the type of weapon. The minimum imprisonment period for carrying these weapons is set at 91 days, and the maximum is ten years. The minimum fine is set at one million tomans, while the maximum is eight million tomans.