Iran Disbands Vice Police After Nearly Three Months of Protests Over Mahsa Amini’s Death

Iran announced the cancellation vice squad after almost three months of protests sparked by the death of Mahsa Amini, who was detained by this unit for allegedly violating the country’s strict dress code.

” vice squad has nothing to do with the judiciary” and was suppressed by those who created it, the Attorney General IranThis was reported on Sunday by ISNA agency Mohammad Jafar Montazeri.

The announcement, seen as a gesture to the protesters, came a day after authorities announced they were revising a 1983 law to make the headscarf obligatory.

The standard was adopted four years after islamic revolution 1979, which overthrew the Shah’s monarchy.

After the September 16 assassination, a wave of protests swept over Iran. amini22-year-old Iranian Kurdish girl who died after being detained vice squad for improper wearing of the veil.

The law states that both Iranian and foreign women, regardless of their religion, must cover their hair and wear loose clothing in public.

Authorities announce death amini This was due to health issues, but according to her family, she died after being beaten.

Women have been leading the protests ever since, shouting anti-government slogans and removing and burning headscarves.

“Woman, life, freedom” is one of the most resounding slogans.

The movement continues despite government crackdowns that have killed hundreds of people.

“Undermining values”

After 1979 “Committees islamic revolutionReported to the Revolutionary Guards, they patrolled to enforce the dress code and “morals” in Iran.

But the vice police known as Gasht-e Ershad [patrullas de orientación]It was created under the mandate of the ultra-conservative President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad. [de 2005 a 2013] for “spreading the culture of propriety and the hijab”, the women’s headscarf.

Their units are made up of men in green suits and women in black veils, clothing that covers everything but the face. The first patrols began work in 2006.

Gasht-e Ershad was created at the time by the Cultural Revolution’s Supreme Council, now led by ultra-conservative President Ebrahim Raisi, who was elected in 2021.

In July, Raisi called for the mobilization of “all institutions to strengthen the hijab law”, saying that “enemies Iran and Islam want to undermine the cultural and religious values ​​of society.

The role of this police force has changed over the years, but it has always been divisive within the political class.

Under moderate President Hassan Rohani, who was in power from 2013 to 2021, women could be seen wearing skinny jeans and brightly colored veils.

But his successor, ultra-conservative Ebrahim Raisi, in July called on “all state institutions” to increase enforcement of the headscarf law.

“Enemies Iran and IslamThey wanted to “undermine the cultural and religious values ​​of society by spreading corruption,” he said at the time.

Women who violated this strict dress code risked being arrested by the police unit.

law of the veil

Prosecutor Montazeri announced on Saturday that “parliament and the judiciary” are looking into making the veil mandatory, although he did not specify whether the law would be changed.

The question of the veil is still very delicate in islamic republic. On one side are conservatives who defend the 1983 law, on the other are progressives who want women to be free to decide whether or not to wear it.

With the start of the protest movement, more and more women are taking to the streets without the headscarf, especially in the wealthy north of the capital Tehran.

Main Reform Party Iran called on September 24 to abolish the mandatory wearing of the veil.

Iran accuses the United States and its allies, as well as its nemesis Israel, of being behind the protests, which it calls “riots.”

More than 300 people have died in demonstrations since September 16, according to the latest report released by Iranian Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps General Amirali Hajizadeh.