Morality police in Iran probably disbanded - New "headscarf law" planned

Created: 04/12/2022, 19:53

By: Katja Thorwarth, Vincent Büssow

The Iranian moral police will be disbanded.

At the same time, a committee of inquiry is to be set up - because of the protests in Iran.

Update from December 4, 6 p.m.:

Iranian observers speak of a diversionary maneuver after the Attorney General announced that they had abolished the so-called vice police.

The journalist Gilda Sahebi described the move on Twitter as "propaganda" by Iran and referred to local contacts.

Meanwhile, the former head of ARD's Tehran studio, Natalie Amiri, made a connection to the general strike that was called in Iran.

Nevertheless, she described the dissolution of the organization as a "partial success".

Update from December 4, 1:35 p.m .:

In an unusual step, Iran announced the establishment of a committee of inquiry to clarify the reasons for the protests in the country that have been going on for more than two months.

However, neither demonstrators, system critics nor other political parties should take part, Interior Minister Ahmad Wahidi said on Sunday, according to the Ilna news agency.

A headscarf is compulsory for women in Iran.

© Rouzbeh Fouladi/dpa

Update from December 4th, 10.40 a.m .:

The Iranian moral police has been dissolved according to the judiciary.

"The morality police have nothing to do with the judiciary and have been shut down by those who established them in the past," Prosecutor General Mohammed Jafar Montazeri said in the central Iranian city of Qom, according to the Isna news agency.

Morality police in Iran probably disbanded - New "headscarf law" planned

First report:

Tehran – People in Iran have been protesting against the regime since the death of the 22-year-old Kurd Mahsa Amini.

The young woman was arrested by the vice squad in mid-September for allegedly violating the dress code.

Strands of hair would have peeped out from under her headscarf.

According to human rights activists, around 470 demonstrators have been killed during the protests.

The Iranian parliament is now reacting because, according to the Attorney General, the vice squad, which was previously mainly responsible for enforcing women's dress codes, has been dissolved.

"The vice squad has been disbanded, but the judiciary will continue to address this societal challenge,"

daily quoted Attorney General Mohammed Jafar Montaseri as saying on Sunday (December 3).

There were no further details about the circumstances and the implementation of the resolution.

Protests in Iran: Critics react cautiously to the dissolution of the vice squad

Critics of the political leadership in Iran reacted cautiously to the announcement.

After all, the moral police is not the problem, but the headscarf requirement.

This is how an Iranian activist put it on Twitter: "Women must be able to go everywhere without a headscarf," he demanded.

This is "only the first step." Other observers assume that the dissolution of the vice squad does not mean an end to compulsory headscarves, but could represent an important partial success for the women's movement in Iran.

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The Iranian prosecutor only announced on Friday that he was working with the Iranian parliament on a headscarf law.

In the Islamic Republic, a law is being examined that would oblige women to cover their heads.

"Parliament and the judiciary are working" on this issue, Montaseri had declared, according to the Isna news agency.

He announced results in "a week or two" but did not comment on what might change to the original law. 

Iran: Protests against Iranian dress code for women continue

The vice police were the trigger for the system-critical uprisings in the country that have been going on for more than two months after the death of 22-year-old Amini.

Since the protests broke out, many women have been increasingly ignoring the compulsory headscarf and Islamic dress codes.

According to Islamic law, women must wear a headscarf and a long, loose coat to cover their hair and body contours in public.

This law has been part of the socio-political doctrine of the Islamic system for more than 40 years in order, as it is called, to "save the country and people from Western cultural invasion".

Further protests - and according to opposition circles also strikes - are planned across the country from Monday.

(ktho/vbu/dpa)