Digital has learned that 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.
This force, known as NOPO — Iran’s black-clad Counterterrorism Special Force — was assigned to safeguard the leader after a U.S.-Israel strike on a Tehran compound on Feb. 28 killed the elder Khamenei amid the start of Operation Epic Fury.
“With Khamenei gone, NOPO will now be protecting Mojtaba Khamenei,” said Ali Safavi, an official with the Foreign Affairs Committee of the Paris-based National Council of Resistance of Iran (NCRI).
According to Safavi, the unit, formed in 1991, initially served as the “nucleus” of the IRGC’s 28th Ruhollah (Khomeini’s first name) Division and typically handles hostage rescue operations.
The unit’s history also includes deployments against internal security threats, and it has often been called upon to suppress protests.
Iran’s Assembly of Experts elected Mojtaba Khamenei on March 8, 2026, elevating him as the third Supreme Leader of the Islamic Republic.
His succession comes amid an ongoing war with the U.S. and Israel, but so far, Mojtaba Khamenei has not made any public statements since the conflict began.
According to The Times of Israel, Iranian state television reported that Mojtaba Khamenei was wounded in the war, though these reports remain unconfirmed.
“NOPO is the Farsi acronym for Nirouyeh Vijeh Pasdaran Velayat, which translates to the Special Force to Protect the Supreme Leader,” Safavi further explained.
Over time, NOPO has evolved into a highly specialized unit distinct from the broader Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC), the military branch established in 1979 to defend the Islamic Republic and its leadership from internal and external threats.
“The NOPO consists of only six brigades. Four are stationed in Tehran, one in Mashhad, and one in Isfahan,” Safavi said.
“They are far more lethal, ruthless, and well-trained than the IRGC,” he claimed, before noting that the brigade’s loyalty is exclusively to the Supreme Leader.
“This force was used solely for the protection of Khamenei,” Safavi continued. “They are very well equipped. Khamenei did not trust any other security force to protect him.”
Safavi also stated that some members of the unit were killed in Ali Khamenei’s assassination, but the force remains fully operational.
“Some NOPO members were killed when Khamenei was assassinated, but the reality is that they are now involved in the repressive and security measures the regime has implemented in recent days to prevent any protests from erupting,” Safavi said.
Safavi added that the elite force’s activities extend beyond personal protection during times of crisis.
“But in times of crisis, such as during the January uprising, they were heavily involved in opening fire on protesters,” he said.
This comes as reports indicate that hundreds of NOPO members have also been widely deployed around prisons in Iran holding political detainees.
“Hundreds of repressive forces are widely deployed around the prison. At Ghezel Hesar Prison,” the NCRI stated in a release.
On Tuesday, March 3, 2026, following the bombing of a military center near Mahabad Prison, prisoners whose ward doors were locked protested and set fire to their blankets, demanding release under wartime conditions.
“Repressive forces responded by firing tear gas into the ward,” the NCRI reported.
Reports also indicated that NOPO took control of Evin Prison in Tehran after regular prison officials fled amid intensified conflict.
In 2021, the U.S. Treasury Department imposed sanctions on NOPO for its role in committing “serious human rights abuses against persons in Iran, Iranian citizens or residents, or the family members of the foregoing.”