Iran Prosecutor General Signals ‘Morality Police’ Suspended

Dec 4, 2022 | Iran has suspended its morality police as the country continues to deal with two months of protests, the Iranian prosecutor general has suggested. The protests erupted shortly after the death of Mahsa Amini, a 22-year-old woman who was arrested by a unit of the morality police in Tehran for allegedly not adhering to the country’s mandatory dress code for women.

Iran Said to Abolish Morality Police: What Does It Mean? | DW News

Dec 4, 2022 | Local media in Iran are reporting the country has abolished its morality police. The announcement comes after months of nationwide demonstrations triggered by the arrest of Gina Mahsa Amini. The young woman died after being taken to police custody for violating Iran's strict female dress code. Iran's Attorney General told a major state news agency, "Morality police have nothing to do with the judiciary."

UK Announces Sanctions against Iran’s Morality Police

THE GUARDIAN: Move comes in response to violent suppression of protests over death of Mahsa Amini in police custody

Iran's riot police stand in a street in Tehran, Iran on 3 October. Photograph: Wana News Agency/Reuters
Britain has announced sanctions against Iran’s morality police in its entirety as well as its national chief and the head of its Tehran division in response to the violent suppression of protests since the death of 22-year-old Mahsa Amini in police custody.

The morality police have been responsible for the street patrols forcing women to wear hijab and attend re-education classes on modesty and chastity. Amini was stopped by the morality police over her clothing while walking in a park in Tehran and taken into detention.

Similar sanctions have already been imposed by the US and are set to be imposed by the EU.

Apart from the Iranian morality police as an institution, the UK Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office (FCDO) said sanctions were being slapped on its chief, Mohammed Gachi, and the head of its Tehran division, Haj Ahmad Mirzaei. » | Patrick Wintour, Diplomatic editor | Monday, October 10, 2022

Back in the 1960s, feminists in the West burnt their bras. Iranian women today should do something similar: All Iranian women should burn their hijabs/chadors en masse. Take them all to the public square and just burn them! What can the morality police or authorities do if everyone does the same thing? There’d be no hijabs left in the country to wear! Defy the reactionary old fogies! – © Mark Alexander

Women of Iran Defy Mullahs by Embracing Western Fashions

Women who flaunt fashion run the risk of being publicly
reprimanded by the so-called "morality police."

FOX NEWS: The regime in Tehran is increasingly feeling the pressure, but not from sanctions or the threat of a military strike.

It’s a vibrant and growing fashion scene, one that enables Iranians to defy the strict religious leaders who have ruled the nation with an iron fist since the 1979 revolution.

Many young Iranians have become emboldened in how they walk the streets, showing an affinity for Western clothing, jewelry, makeup and hairstyles. But it is more than just a fashion statement, say Iranians. It's a political statement.

“Violating the dress code is another way young Iranians can express political dissent,” said journalist and political activist Mansoureh Nasserchian.

Since the 2009 uprisings, when Iranians flooded the streets of Iran protesting the corruption of their government in the aftermath of former President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad’s contested re-election, the world was introduced to a new brand of Iranians influenced by social media and Western styles and ideologies, according to Nasserchian, who fled the country for Canada shortly after the uprisings.

“When the young people filled the streets, not caring how they dressed or if they had hair covering, things really changed in Iran,” Nasserchian said. “Social media gave the courage to the new generation to break taboos and be open about political and social issues.” » | Lisa Daftari | Fox News contributor specializing in Middle Eastern affairs | Sunday, February 23, 2014

Iran to Ban Morality Police from Targeting Women

THE DAILY TELEGRAPH: President Hassan Rouhani has ordered the country's morality police to stop arresting women considered to be in defiance of a strict dress code

Iran's notorious morality police have been barred from arresting women deemed to be immodestly dressed, as President Hassan Rouhani moved to fulfil an election promise to ease up on the country's strict Islamic dress code[.]

Mr Rouhani, who has displayed a more moderate bent than his hardline predecessor since taking office in June, has moved to reign in the Gashte Ershad (Guidance Patrol), that has been a trademark of the Islamic Republic since its inception in 1979.

He has ordered the Iranian police to hand over the "modesty project" to the Ministry of Interior, a move interpreted as a relaxation of the restrictive Islamic mores that have long governed personal behaviour, particularly that of women.

Brigadier Ismail Ahmadi-Moghaddam, the head of the Iranian police, said the issue of how women and men dressed was no longer a matter of law enforcement. » | Ahmed Vahdat | Wednesday, November 13, 2013