Carrying sub-machine guns, the women - the first to be trained at the police college - marched past the Iranian supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.

The new recruits will work mainly in crime prevention, but are also likely to be involved in carrying out body searches of female suspects, which male police officers are not allowed to do.

Most professions in Iran are open to women, who outnumber men at universities, but they are required to cover their heads and body. The chador is obligatory dress in some government departments.

The parade also include several thousand men, a number of whom received gifts from the Ayatollah, among them the wrestler Ali Reza Dabir, who won a gold medal at the Olympic Games in Sydney.

More equality

Correspondents say women in Iran have gained more equality in recent years, although there are still many unresolved issues.