As the protest movement in Iran continues to grow in intensity following fresh calls for another three-day strike, the prosecutor general made the surprise announcement on Saturday that the country’s morality police, the group responsible for the death of Mahsa Amini which sparked the protests, had been abolished. The declaration was initially seen as a retreat by the regime but has done little to pacify dissent.
As he answered questions following a speech in the city of Qom on December 3, few expected the surprise announcement from Iran’s prosecutor general Mohammad Jafar Montazeri: he seemed to confirm that the morality police, created in 2006, had been abolished.
Iran’s morality police have been one of the targets for protestors, along with the country’s Islamic Republic leadership, since officers arrested 22-year-old Mahsa Amini in September for failing to wear her headscarf properly. Amini later died in police custody, sparking nationwide and then international protests.
As such, Montazeri’s statement seemed to confirm a victory for protesters. “The morality police have nothing to do with judicial power and have been abolished by those who created them,” he said, according to Isna news agency, before adding: “Of course, judicial powers will continue to police morals in society.”
But two days later, the future of Iran’s morality police remains unclear. For historian and Iran specialist Jonathan Piron, the government seems more inflexible than ever, contrary to the prosecutor general’s announcement.
“The morality police haven’t been abolished in Iran,” he said. “The prosecutor general’s words were ambiguous and were misinterpreted. The obligation for women to wear headscarves is not up for debate and authorities haven’t made any concessions on this point. They are continuing policies of oppression.”
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Source : france24
