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++AP Television is adhering to Iranian law that stipulates all media are banned from providing BBC Persian or VOA Persian any coverage from Iran, and under this law if any media violate this ban the Iranian authorities can immediately shut down that organisation in Tehran.++

PLEASE NOTE: FOOTAGE CONTAINS CLOSE UPS OF WEAPONS POINTED AT CAMERA

AP Television

Tehran, Iran - March 1st, 2011

1. Pan across handguns and knives

2. Mid of Master Ramin Batebi Ph.D demonstrating unarmed self-defence when held at gunpoint

3. Close of trainee grabbing gun pointed at his abdomen

4. Wide of Master Batebi grappling trainee to the ground

5. Various of trainees learning defence techniques in a mock gun fight

6. SOUNDBITE: (Farsi) Master Ramin Batebi, Bodyguard Trainer:

"We hope to be able to expand and develop bodyguard training and self-defence here in Iran. It would also help our police forces and consequently improve the country's security."

7. Wide of trainees practicing self-defence in a mock knife attack

8. Various of Kalashnikov gun being removed from attacker

9. SOUNDBITE: (Farsi) Rouzbeh (no last name given), Martial Arts Self-Defence Instructor:

"I have practiced martial arts for years and becoming a bodyguard means the ultimate level of all martial arts. I decided to set a goal for myself, become a bodyguard, and use my martial arts experience in the best way. I love this profession and by learning this, I would like to defend myself and my family in the first instance."

10. Tilt down Master Batebi and two trainees rehearsing a technique for defending VIPs

11. Wide of gun practice

AP Television

Chitgar Park, Tehran - February 27th, 2011

12. Close of knives hitting tree trunk

13. Wide of trainees practicing knife-throwing techniques in the park

14. Pan of trainees practicing car chase and capture methods

15. Wide of trainees jumping from moving car

16. Mid of trainee approaching car

17. SOUNDBITE: (Farsi) Ali Delfani, Bodyguard Trainee:

"Bodyguard training in Iran is necessary because it will reinforce security in the society. By learning this, we can defend the life of people and their families and also their property. When someone trusts us to be their bodyguards and assigns us to be protectors of their family, we have to be in very good condition mentally to respond to their confidence in us."

18. Various of trainees learning to deal with car thefts

19. SOUNDBITE: (Farsi) Master Ramin Batebi, Bodyguard Trainer:

"We will begin by training bodyguards for governmental organisations. Later, we will also train individuals who have no legal need, just for personal purposes, and we will also train bodyguards for ordinary people."

20. Wide of trainee jumping out of a moving car

21. Wide of trainees evading oncoming car

AP Television

Tehran, Iran - March 2nd, 2011

22. Mid of Master Ramin Batebi Ph.D in his office with hand gun

23. Close of gun in Master Batebi's hand

24. Mid of Master Batebi explaining a handgun operation to a trainee

25. SOUNDBITE: (Farsi) Ramin Batebi, Bodyguard Trainer:

"Merchants and businessmen welcome being able to hire a bodyguard for themselves, but we have been ordered not to train ordinary people as of yet. We can only provide state organisations with bodyguards. However, the law has specified that doctors or lawyers can carry defensive tools such as tear gas, given to them by their respective organisations. We hope the legal obstructions ahead of us will be removed."

26. Close of a framed certificate from IB-GA (International Bodyguard Alliance) on wall

27. Wide of Master Batebi in his office

28. Mid of self-defence and bodyguard trainees in gym

29. Close of bodyguard trainee boxing

30. Wide of trainee exercising shot through legs of a trainee

31. Close of 'International Bodyguard Alliance' logo on back of T-shirt

32. Mid of Master Ramin Batebi Ph.D  demonstrating disarm and disable self defence technique

LEAD IN:

Demand for personal protection is growing in Iran.

That's led to the opening of the country's only specialist bodyguard training school.

Currently bodyguards are only allowed to work for the state in Iran, but that may be about to change.

This frightening array of fatal weaponry looks aggressive, but it's all for the sake of self defence.

Not that these guns will be fired. They are being used to train Tehran's next generation of bodyguards.

Growing demand for personal protection in Iran has inspired karate expert Master Ramin Batebi to open a training facility dedicated to bodyguard skills.

His private gym is sanctioned by the Iranian authorities to provide this specialist form of training. It's a first for Iran.

Trainees are confronted with threatening scenarios and taught how to use martial arts techniques to escape danger and take control.

They also get weapons training to provide protection for their clients in threatening situations.

The programme is still at an early stage with state agencies his first clients, but Master Ramin Batebi sees plenty of scope to expand.

"We hope to be able to expand and develop bodyguard training and self-defence here in Iran. It would also help our police forces and consequently improve the country's security," he says.

All the training situations are scarily realistic, using real weapons and considerable amounts for physical force. Even a demonstration looks life-threatening.

Seeing them in action, you really wouldn't want to mess with these guys.

The bodyguard techniques are designed for VIP escort protection, overt and covert security assignments as well as risk assessment.

Many of the trainees, like self-defence instructor Rouzbeh, are already involved in martial arts, but want to push their skills to the limit.

"I have practiced martial arts for years and becoming a bodyguard means the ultimate level of all martial arts. I decided to set a goal for myself, become a bodyguard, and use my martial arts experience in the best way. I love this profession and by learning this, I would like to defend myself and my family in the first instance," he says.

Aggressive gun play in the gym is just one part of the process.

Outside in a park in western Tehran there's a chance to learn knife-throwing, target approach-and-attack and vehicle assault.

All sorts of scenarios are rehearsed here, ready for the real thing.

To be an effective bodyguard, mental as well as physical toughness is essential says trainee Ali Delfani.

"By learning this, we can defend the life of people and their families and also their property. When someone trusts us to be their bodyguards and assigns us to be protectors of their family, we have to be in very good condition mentally to respond to their confidence in us."

Car-jacking and theft are just some of the personal and property protection roles that a bodyguard may have to take on.

Martial arts techniques, not firepower, are the secret weapons in Master Ramin Batebi's arsenal.

Master Batebi has no shortage of qualifications for the job. He is a 7th Dan in karate, and is recognised as a Master in the Korean self-defence combat system called Sungja-do.

Sungja-do is a freestyle form of karate meaning "Way of the Saviour (Jesus)" in Korean.

His group is also part of the International Body-Guard Alliance (IB-GA), a subdivision of the International Sungja-do Association (ISA) headquartered in South Carolina&California, USA.

Getting government sanction to open his bodyguard gym is just the start. So far the authorities prohibit him from taking on private clients, limiting his business to dealing with state organisations only, but Master Batebi is hopeful that those restrictions will soon be lifted.

"Merchants and businessmen welcome being able to hire a bodyguard for themselves but we have been ordered not to train ordinary people as of yet. We can only provide state organisations with bodyguards. However, the law has specified that doctors or lawyers can carry defensive tools such as tear gas, given to them by their respective organisations. We hope the legal obstructions ahead of us will be removed."

In an ever more dangerous and uncertain world the demand for bodyguard protection in Iran is sure to increase.

Master Ramin Batebi is unafraid - after all, wrestling assailants to the ground with a flick of the wrist and taking control is what he does, expertly, day after day.

With combat skills like these, business is looking up for Tehran's pioneering bodyguard school.