Police Drill in Mashhad Sends Municipal Employees to Hospital

A special police unit drill and operation at the Mashhad municipality building, titled 'Zero Hour', resulted in some municipal employees being transferred to the hospital. The Iranian special police conducted this drill on November 1st, coinciding with the 'Passive Defense Week' in Mashhad. According to reports, municipal officials and employees were unaware of the drill. Mohammad Boostani, deputy police chief of Mashhad, stated that the drill was executed to 'assess readiness against bomb threats' and that 'none of the municipal employees were informed about the drill.' Following the unannounced drill, rumors of a 'bomb threat' at the Mashhad municipality building spread, which Reza Pour Monfared, head of the municipality's media department, denied. Pour Monfared told Mehr News Agency that 'this drill, held under the guise of a bomb threat with the presence of law enforcement, was a mandatory evacuation drill for the municipality building.' Fars News Agency reported that the 'special police unit's assault' on the municipality occurred while Mohammad Azari, the financial and administrative deputy of the municipality, was holding a press conference. According to the news agency, 'while journalists were writing the preliminary remarks of the financial and administrative deputy, they heard the sirens of police and ambulance vehicles.' Fars continued, 'All these events disrupted the continuation of the press conference, and the presence of bomb disposal officers in their well-known uniforms added more stress to the journalists and municipal employees.' Amir Azizi, director of crisis management and engineering at the Mashhad municipality, criticized the uncoordinated execution of the drill, stating, 'This was done without coordination with the Mashhad municipality and was initiated from Tehran.' The Mashhad municipality announced on Tuesday (November 2nd) that it would file a complaint against the city's police for 'illegal entry under the pretext of a drill' into its central building. The announcement stated, 'This illegal entry by law enforcement under the pretext of a drill occurred while the Mashhad municipality and members of the Mashhad City Council were hosting the governor of Najaf Ashraf.' The municipality added that even the Minister of Interior and the governor of Khorasan Razavi were not informed about the drill. The municipality's announcement also mentioned that following the police's warning about a bomb in the municipality building, 'some employees of this organization suffered severe shock due to the stress and were transferred to the hospital.' The Mashhad municipality concluded its announcement by stating, 'Following the problems arising from this uncoordinated drill, the Mashhad municipality will seriously pursue the matter through judicial authorities.' This announcement was made while Mahmoud Karimi, the political-security deputy of the Mashhad governor, defended the manner of the drill's execution, stating, 'If the organization in question is to be informed before the drill, the objective of the drill will not be achieved.' In Iran, many drills have been held in government organizations and institutions on the occasion of 'Passive Defense Week', aimed at assessing 'the readiness of forces to respond to unforeseen incidents.'