The Tehran Governor said on Wednesday March 13 that 99 Basij battalions and 15,000 police officers are prepared to keep the peace during the presidential election in June.
The last presidential election in 2009 led to mass street protests, when millions of protesters demonstrated peacefully in the streets to challenge the legitimacy of the vote count.
The Tehran Governor stressed that the 2009 protests were very costly for the regime, which is why it is taking preventive measures early on for the upcoming election.
He added that 15,000 police officers will provide security for the election in Tehran and more will remain on alert. He went on to add that while 99 Basij battalions will also be standing by, he hoped that there would be no need to engage them.
The presidential candidates who challenged the last presidential election, MirHosein Mousavi and Mehdi Karroubi, have been under house arrest since February of 2011, and the reformists have repeatedly called for their release as well as better conditions for the free participation of reformist candidates in the coming election.
The establishment remains divided in its approach to the reformists, and while some conservative figures have encouraged their participation in the election, most remain closed to the idea so far.
