Has Iran's morality police really been abolished?

Has Iran’s morality police really been abolished?

Morality

Iran’s morality police have been abolished, according to the Attorney General Mohammad Javad Montazeri.

On Saturday, the state media reported Montazeri had announced the country’s morality police “was abolished by the same authorities who installed it.”

Montazeri made the statement during a parliamentry meeting where officials discussed the continuing protests, which was ignited in September by the death of Mahsa Amini, who died while in police custody.

However, the Interior Ministry, which oversees the morality police, have not confirmed Montazeri’s statements.

Montazeri added that the judiciary would continue to enforce restrictions on “social behaviour.”

“The morality police had nothing to do with the judiciary and have been shut down from where they were set up,” he said. 

Accordingly, the disbanding of the morality police may do little to alter Iran’s conservative Islamic dress code, which requires women to cover their bodies and hair with a head scarf or hijab. Women will still be required to wear the hijab.

One protester interviewed by the BBC said “Just because the government has decided to dismantle morality police it doesn’t mean the protests are ending.”

“Even the government saying the hijab is a personal choice is not enough. People know Iran has no future with this government in power. We will see more people from different factions of Iranian society, moderate and traditional, coming out in support of women to get more of their rights back.”

Iranian journalist and activist, Masih Alinejad tweeted her argument, calling the announcement of the abolishment “disinformation”.

“It’s a tactic to stop the uprising,” she wrote. “Protesters are not facing guns and bullets to abolish morality police or forced hijab. They want to end Islamic regime.”

The morality police were tasked with enforcing the dress code, which were imposed after the 1979 Islamic Revolution and enlivened by the country’s new ultraconservative president Ebrahim Raisi in recent years. 

Last week, Montazeri revealed that authorities, including the Supreme Council of the Cultural Revolution, were in the process of reviewing the dress code and that a decision would be made within two weeks. 

Since the protests began in September, the morality police have arrested up to 14,000 people. Human Rights groups believe at least 400 people have been killed so far, including 50 children.

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