Iran Shutting Down Morality Police, Official Says, After Months of Protests

NYT WORLD: Iran Shutting Down Morality Police,Official Says, After Months of Protests
By Vivian Yee
Section: World
Source: New York Times
Published Date: December 4, 2022 at 02:00AM

The move appeared to be a concession to the protest movement that erupted after the death of Mahsa Amini, a young woman who was being held by the morality police for supposedly violating Islamic dress rules.

A senior Iranian official said this weekend that Iran had abolished the morality police, the state media reported, after months of protests set off by the death of a young woman who was detained by the force for supposedly violating the country’s strict Islamic dress laws.
The morality police “was abolished by the same authorities who installed it,” Attorney General Mohammad Javad Montazeri said on Saturday during a meeting at which officials were discussing the unrest, according to state media reports.
It was unclear whether the statement amounted to a final decision by the theocratic government, which has neither announced the abolition of the morality police nor denied it. But if the force is abolished, the change will be unlikely to appease protesters who are still clashing with other security forces and have become so emboldened that some are calling for an end of the Islamic Republic.
The morality police is overseen by the Iranian police, not the attorney general, and there were suggestions on Sunday that the government might be trying to play down the significance of Mr. Montazeri ‘s remarks.
One state television channel, the Arabic-language Al Alam, said that the comments had been taken out of context, and other state channels said the government was not backing down from the mandatory hijab law.

Link: https://www.nytimes.com/2022/12/04/world/middleeast/iran-morality-police.html

Iran has scrapped its morality police after more than two months of protests triggered by the death of Mahsa Amini following her arrest for allegedly violating the country's strict female dress code, local media said Sunday.

Women-led protests, labeled "riots" by the authorities, have swept Iran since the 22-year-old Iranian of Kurdish origin died on Sept. 16, three days after her arrest by the morality police in Tehran.

Demonstrators have burned their mandatory hijab head coverings and shouted anti-government slogans, and a growing number of women have refused to wear the hijab, particularly in parts of Tehran.

"Morality police have nothing to do with the judiciary and have been abolished," Attorney General Mohammad Jafar Montazeri was quoted as saying by the ISNA news agency.

His comment came at a religious conference where he responded to a question on "why the morality police were being shut down," the report said.

The move represents a rare concession to the protest movement, and authorities have also acknowledged the demoralizing effect of an economic crisis spurred by U.S. sanctions.

A police motorcycle burns during a protest in Tehran on Sept. 19, 2022. WANA NEWS AGENCY via REUTERS

"The best way to confront the riots is to ... pay attention to people's real demands," said the parliament presidium council spokesman Seyyed Nezamoldin Mousavi, referencing "livelihoods and the economy" in the Islamic republic.

Since the 1979 Islamic Revolution that overthrew Iran's U.S.-backed monarchy, authorities have monitored adherence to the strict dress code for women as well as men.

But under hardline president Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, the morality police — known formally as the Gasht-e Ershad or "Guidance Patrol" — was established to "spread the culture of modesty and hijab."

Read more at: https://www.cbsnews.com/news/iran-abolishes-morality-police-protests/

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