After anti-hijab protests, Iran disbands morality police

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

Women-led protests, labelled “riots” by the authorities, have swept Iran since the 22-year-old Iranian of Kurdish origin died on September 16, three days after her arrest by the morality police in Tehran. “Morality police have nothing to do with the judiciary” and have been abolished, Attorney General Mohammad Jafar Montazeri was quoted as saying.

His comment came at a religious conference where he responded to a participant who asked “why the morality police were being shut down”, the report said. The morality police -- known formally as the Gasht-e Ershad or “Guidance Patrol” -- were established under hardline president Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, to “spread the culture of modesty and hijab”, the mandatory female head covering. The unit began patrols in 2006.

The announcement of their abolition came a day after Montazeri said that “both parliament and the judiciary are working (on the issue)” of whether the law requiring women to cover their heads needs to be changed.

President Ebrahim Raisi said in televised comments that Iran’s republican and Islamic foundations were constitutionally entrenched “but there are methods of implementing the constitution that can be flexible”.

The hijab became mandatory four years after the 1979 revolution that overthrew the US-backed monarchy and established the Islamic Republic of Iran.

Morality police officers initially issued warnings before starting to crack down and arrest women 15 years ago. The vice squads were usually made up of men in green uniforms and women clad in black chadors, garments that cover their heads and upper bodies. The role of the units evolved, but has always been controversial even among candidates running for the presidency.

Protests planned from today

Protesters in Iran have announced a a three-day strike from Monday as they seek to maintain pressure on authorities over the death in custody of Amini, with protests planned on the day President Ebrahim Raisi will address students in Tehran. Raisi is expected to visit Tehran University on Wednesday, celebrated as Student Day. Protesters are calling for strikes by merchants and a rally towards Azadi (Freedom) Square.