Brigadier General Morteza Talai, speaking at a police exhibition, announced that people spotted to be eating food in public would be arrested and handed over for prosecution, the ultra-conservative daily Jomhouri Islami wrote.
The month of Ramadan, which starts on Wednesday and will last until November, is the period during which all healthy Muslims are required to fast during daylight.
In previous years, people caught eating in public in Iran during the holy month have been flogged in public or sentenced to jail time.