- Siavash Ardalan & Marita Moloney
- BBC Persian Service
image source, Good pictures
A protester holds a photo of Mahsa Amini during a protest in Turkey last month.
Iran’s morality police, tasked with enforcing strict Islamic dress codes, will be disbanded, the country’s attorney general has announced.
Mohammed Zafar Montaseri’s comments, which have yet to be confirmed by other agencies, were made during an event on Sunday.
Iran is affected Months of struggle over the young woman’s death While he was in police custody.
Mahza Amini was arrested by the morality police for violating hijab regulations.
Montessori was at a religious conference when asked if the group would be disbanded.
“The morality police have nothing to do with the judiciary, they have been closed since they were established,” he said.
The force rests with the Home Ministry and not the Judiciary.
On Saturday, Montessori also addressed the Iranian parliament A law requiring women to wear Hijabs will be considered.
Removing the moral guard does not automatically mean that the old law will be replaced.
Protests led by women,rebellions“By the authorities, all over Iran have sprung up since Amini, 22, died in custody on September 16, three days after he was arrested by morality police in Tehran.
His death was a catalyst for protests, but they were a continuation of discontent over poverty, unemployment, inequality, injustice and corruption.
“What we have is a revolution”
image source, Good pictures
There have been protests outside Iran, as in London.
If confirmed, removing the morality police would be a concession, but It does not guarantee that it will stop the protestsMany protestors have burnt their veils.
“Just because the government has decided to remove the moral police doesn’t mean the protests will end,” one Iranian woman told the BBC.
“It is not enough for the government to say that wearing hijab is a personal choice. People know that Iran has no future with this government in power. We are going to look at moderates and traditionalists from different sectors of Iranian society. , going to support women to reclaim their rights”.
Another woman said: “We protesters don’t care about the hijab. We haven’t worn it for the past 70 days.”
“What we have is a revolution. The hijab is the beginning, we need nothing more than the death of the dictator and a change of regime, nothing.”
Iran has had various forms of “moral policing” since the Islamic Revolution in 1979, but the latest – formally known as Kasht-e Ershad – is currently the leading agency responsible for implementing Iran’s Islamic code of conduct.
They began patrolling in 2006 to enforce a dress code requiring women to wear long dresses and banning shorts, ripped jeans and other clothing deemed immodest.
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