Men in Black: Iran’s Elite NOPO Force

“An elite, counterterrorism unit has been deployed to protect Iran’s newly-appointed, Supreme Leader, Ayatollah Mojtaba Khamenei, following the assassination of his father, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.” — Emma Bussey for Fox News, March 10, 2026.

In 1991, the elite, Nīrū-ye Vīzhe-ye Pād-vahšat (NOPO), in Farsi, the “Special Force to Protect the Supreme Leader,” or “Counterterrorism Special Force,” was formed, under the Amīr al-Mu’min Unit of Iran’s Law Enforcement Command (NAJA), as the core of the IRGC’s (Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps) 28th Ruhollah (Ayatollah Khomeini’s first name) Division. It is tasked with high-risk operations, protection of the Supreme Leader, hostage rescue, counterterrorist intervention, and riot suppression, as well as domestic security operations, including dispersing protests and controlling political activists.

After the controversial election of Mahmoud Ahmadinejad in 2009, NOPO played a major role in the post-election, brutal crackdown of the resulting nationwide protests. During the 2019 protests in Iran over rising gasoline prices, NOPO fired automatic weapons at unarmed protesters, including women and children. They also blocked roads, used heavy machine guns, and randomly fired live ammunition into the crowds of protesters and dissidents.

Amid the 2022 to 2023 Mahsa Amini (a 22-year-old, Kurdish-Iranian, beautiful, female activist, who died on September 16, 2022, in a hospital in Tehran, Iran, under suspicious circumstances, after being arrested for failure to wear the hijab face veil) protests, NOPO also used “excessive violence and lethal force against unarmed protestors, including women and children,” by once again firing automatic weapons at them.

Over time, NOPO, wearing menacing, all-black uniforms, evolved into a highly specialized unit, separate from the overall IRGC, a paramilitary force, much like Adolf Hitler’s SS troops (also wearing black uniforms) in World War II, established in 1979 to defend the Islamic Republic of Iran and its top leadership. NOPO functions as both a counterterrorism and special, riot-control unit, with its primary operational focus on domestic security, suppression of protests, and close-in, 24-hour protection of the Supreme Leader.

Following the assassination of Ayatollah Ali Khamenei on February 28, 2026, by an Israeli Air Force bombing campaign, NOPO was deployed to safeguard his son and successor, Ayatollah Mojtaba Khamenei, age 56, reflecting the unit’s unwavering loyalty to the Supreme Leader, although Mojtaba Khamenei allegedly released a new message, without appearing on camera, on March 12, 2026, “full of threats and bravado,” as Iran analyst Arash Azizi told CNN, vowing revenge, and claiming that the vital, Strait of Hormuz will remain closed until the current war is over.

Mojtaba Khamenei was reported to be “badly wounded” during the bombing attack on his father, apparently in both legs (one was likely amputated), disfigured in the face, possibly even comatose, and most certainly hiding in a deep, underground bunker. He also has a $10-millom bounty on his head from the U.S. State Department.

With Operation Epic Fury still in full combat mode, his remaining time in power may be quite limited, especially if the Israeli Air Force locates his hidden bunker anytime soon, terminating his bluff and bluster forever. Regardless of the outcome, NOPO will simply move on to the next chosen leader in the line of succession.

Ali Safavi, an official with the Foreign Affairs Committee of the Paris-based National Council of Resistance of Iran, or NCRI, explained that, “NOPO is composed of six brigades only. Four are stationed in Tehran, one in Mashhad, and one in Isfahan. They are far more lethal, ruthless, and well-trained than the IRGC. They are very well-equipped. Khamenei did not trust any other security force for his protection.

“Some of the NOPO were killed when Khamenei was killed, but…they are now involved in the suppressive and security measures the regime has also undertaken in recent days to prevent any outbreak of protests…In times of crisis, such as what happened during the January uprising, they were heavily involved in opening fire on the protesters.”

The unit was sanctioned by the U.S. Treasury Department in 2021 and by the European Union in 2023 for serious human rights violations, including the use of excessive and lethal force against unarmed protesters, targeting civilians, and suppressing dissent, and it is a key element of Iran’s internal security apparatus.