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AFP - Iranian police are gearing up for what
may be one of their biggest ever public security operations - a sudden
eruption of street parties should Iran enjoy a successful World Cup
campaign.
Residents of the football-mad Islamic republic are likely to be glued to
their screens for the duration of the tournament, which opens for Iran with
a crucial match against Mexico on June 11.
And if previous events are anything to go by, any Iranian victory or even
draw is likely to prompt dancing on the streets - a nightmare scenario for
police who usually prefer for large public gatherings to be pre-organised
affairs.
But the head of Tehran's police spokesman, Mohammad Torang, told AFP that he
was optimistic that any partying will pass off well.
"The police has always considered themselves a part of the great Iranian
nation, and we'll be participating," said Torang, indicating that his forces
won't even bother trying to engage in their usual crowd control tactics.
In previous years, Iranian football victories have brought gridlock to
cities and prompted men and women to start dancing amid a cacophony of
klaxons and firecrackers.
"Having fun is the right of the people," Torang asserted, adding that police
also shared public ambitions for the national team. "Of course there will be
some traffic restrictions in some of Tehran's main streets or squares, but
all in all it will be to facilitate fun."
At the outset of Iran's 1979 Islamic revolution, the new authorities viewed
football with disinterest. But progressively, senior officials have been
getting in on the act.
Hardline President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad recently decked himself out in a
football kit to have a kick-around with the national side, telling the squad
that "the prayers of 70 million Iranians" are behind them.
Tehran's mayor, Mohammad Baqer Qalibaf, has also reportedly awarded each
player 180 million rials (19,700 dollars) for making it to the World Cup.
For the first time ever, Tehran's municipality has also erected giant screen
televisions in several major squares across the city of over 10 million.
"I'll certainly be watching all of Iran's matches," Iran's usually composed
foreign ministry spokesman, Hamid Reza Asefi, also told AFP.
"I'm not a kind of person to go out on the streets and celebrate, I'm
getting too old for that. But if my kids want to go they can, and maybe I
might go," said Asefi, who also sits on the board of the Iranian Football
Federation.
An indication of public interest is also television sales.
"Every four years there's a surge in TV sales," revealed a sales manager
working for an Asian eletronic goods manufacturer. "We're having a very good
run on televisions, especially the big LCD ones."
"It's the big televisions, more than 29 inches, that are selling well,"
added Hojjat Mokhlesabadi, a spokesman for the Iranian TV maker Sanam.
Iran is in Group D with Mexico, Portugal and Angola and has chosen the
southern German city of Friedrichshafen as their World Cup base.
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