Iran’s Morality Police To be Shut Down Say Officials, Protesters Skeptical

After eleven weeks of protests following the death of Mahsa Amini in Tehran, Iranian officials said it will abolish its morality police and will consider relaxing its strict hijab law, but some say these sweeping statements are a strategy to quell uprisings; in response, protesters in Iran called for a three-day strike this week. 

The morality police, a police unit that enforces dress code, was the target of country-wide protests since September, after 22-year-old Amini died in the unit’s custody for allegedly violating the dress rules—which have been imposed since the 1979 Islamic Revolution. 

According to a statement via state media reports by Attorney General Mohammad Javad Montazeri, the morality police “was abolished by the same authorities who installed it.” However, the morality police’s dismantling will not be the end of enforcing the dress code; on Saturday, Montazeri said that the law that requires women to wear hijabs would be reviewed.

In a speech on Saturday, President Ebrahim Raisi said that while Iran’s Islamic system was enshrined in its constitution, he added, “There are methods of implementing the constitution that can be flexible.”

Despite these statements, activists are skeptical that any change will arise, saying these promising words are just an attempt to curb protests. Some are even calling it “disinformation” to say that the morality police will be abolished.

On Sunday, journalist and activist Masih Alinejad tweeted: “It’s disinformation that Islamic Republic of Iran has abolished it’s morality police. It’s a tactic to stop the uprising. Protesters are not facing guns and bullets to abolish morality police or forced hijab.They want to end Islamic regime.”

“Morality police hasn’t been abolished in Iran. This is a lie to deceive protester and to divide them just before nationwide calls for protests in the next coming days,” journalist and TV show host Sima Sabet tweeted.