This is the moment a stocky Iranian soldier rams a knifeman mugging a woman in the street with his car and proceeds to pummel him into submission.
Iranian serviceman Mohammad Nouri, 28, was driving in his car when he witnessed the knifeman attacking the victim on the street in the neighbourhood of Tehranpars in the Iranian capital Tehran, and a video of the incident went viral last week.
In the footage, the suspect is seen trying to grab the woman’s bag as they both cross the road before the driver of a white car appears and rams the man to the ground.
The soldier then gets out of the car and kicks and punches the man before forcing him to the ground again. Meanwhile, the woman, reportedly in her 60s, picks up her belongings from the tarmac. The video ends with the pair still arguing in the street.
After the footage went viral online, Nouri told the newspaper Hamshahri: “I was looking for a parking space when I noticed a woman being attacked. The moment the thief violently grabbed the bag and pushed the woman, my blood boiled and I drove towards them.
“I was driving fast enough that the man fell to the ground and he was disarmed because he had a knife in his hand.
“I was scared, but I had to get involved because the danger had not been eliminated. The knife had fallen on the ground, but he could have picked it up at any moment and hurt me or the lady.”
Despite taking a beating, the suspect is seen continuing to argue with the soldier in the video, and Nouri explained: “He wanted his knife back, but I would not give it to him because I knew he would attack me as soon as he had it.”
“People who found out about the incident detained the thief and handed him over to the police. I did not wait for the police to arrive and went home.
“The woman, whose leg was injured, was taken to hospital.”
The soldier added: “I also found out today that the thief is suing me for beating him.”
Since finding online fame, Nouri was invited on the Salam Tehran show on TV5 where one of his superiors appeared live on air and promised to remove six months of extra military service.
When asked why he had to serve six extra months, he replied: “Because I went into the army 10 years late.”
He concluded: “I advise people to always intervene indirectly during such incidents. Shout, throw stones, things like that, so the bully does not feel safe and runs away.”
