The morality police once again walk the streets of Iran ten months after the death of Mahsa Amini, the 22-year-old girl who died at the hands of this police last September. This initiative is part of a new campaign that was announced last Sunday to persecute women who do not wear the hijab in public and had the return of the police group. The return of the agents is due to the project Support for the culture of hijab and chastity, proposed by the country’s government institutions in order to “protect society” and “strengthen family life.”
Amini’s unexpected death sparked a wave of demonstrations in the country’s cities, in which more than 500 protesters were killed and nearly 20,000 arrested. The protests subsided significantly in early 2023, after one of the most serious periods of crisis and political instability in Iran. After the start of the massive protests, the morality police stopped roaming the streets, and some sources stated that the organization was dissolved for a while. But Iranian authorities have insisted that the organization remained active during the political crisis.
Morality police officers, already patrolling the streets of Tehran since Sunday, will detain women who do not wear hijab in public and notify the authorities, General Saeed Montazerolmahdi, their spokesman, announced on Sunday. “Police will warn and punish, through vehicle and foot patrols, people who unfortunately disobey orders and continue to disobey the dress code,” the spokesperson warned.
Although women are required to wear the veil, many of them do not follow the official dress code, especially in the capital Tehran and other cities. Since the beginning of the year, the authorities have taken a series of measures such as closing businesses, particularly restaurants, and installing cameras on the streets to locate those who challenge the authorities. The Shargh newspaper, a reformist newspaper, announced that four women had been sentenced to “take psychology courses, clean hospitals and stop driving for two years” last Sunday.
On Saturday night, Mohammed Sadeghi, a young and little-known actor, was arrested by a group of police officers at his home. Before being arrested, Sadeghi posted a video in response to another viral video on social media that showed a woman being detained by the morality police. Sadeghi announced that he did not agree with the actions of the police authorities. According to the Tehran-based official Hamshahri daily, Sadeghi was arrested for encouraging the public to use weapons against police. In recent days, several young people have been detained by the Iranian regime for going against the authorities.
The fight for Amini’s death and women’s rights and freedoms became a way to overthrow the country’s religious rulers, whom protesters have accused of being corrupt and repressive. The return of the morality police marks the beginning of a new period of political repression in Iran and deals a blow to the protest movement.
