Iran: State News Outlets Say Morality Police Abolished As Protests Continue

The protests were triggered by 22-year-old Mahsa Amini's death, allegedly at the hands of the morality police.

Wednesday, 26 October, marks forty days since the death of Mahsa Amini in Iran – the end of the traditional Iranian mourning period.

(Photo: Sourav Dihingia/The Quint)

According to local media, the Iranian government has abolished its controversial "morality police," after more than two months of widespread protests catalyzed by the death of 22-year-old Mahsa Amini for allegedly not wearing her hijab properly.

What does the report say? On Saturday night, state news outlets along with the ISNA (Iranian Students' News Agency) news agency reported the decision of the Iranian regime to do away with the "morality police," known as the Gasht-e Ershad (Guidance Patrol).

ISNA quoted Attorney General Mohammad Jafar Montazeri as saying that the operations are over.

He went on to say that it "has no connection with the judiciary and was shut down by the same place that it had been launched from in the past."

What has the president said? Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi said on Saturday that the country's Islamic values were constitutionally ingrained "but there are methods of implementing the constitution that can be flexible".

Why has Iran been witnessing protests? Who was Mahsa Amini? The death of a 22-year-old woman named Mahsa Amini on 16 September earlier this year, in police custody, who was detained by the police for not allegedly wearing the hijab appropriately, had triggered a wave of protests across the country, with women at forefront.

Protesters have been demanding an end to the brutal regime led by Supreme leader Ali Khamenei.

How has the Iranian government reacted to the protests? The government has brutally cracked down on the protestors. A state security body meanwhile estimated that 200 people, including security forces' members, have died in the protests. The United Nations has said that more than 300 people have died, while Reuters news agency estimates the death toll to be higher than 500.

How does the morality police function? The Gasht-e Ershad patrols usually use a van with both a male and a chador-clad female crew.

Their job is to stand and observe people in busy public places like shopping centres and subway stations, after which they detain women for, among other dress code "violations," not wearing hijabs in a manner that they perceive to be "proper."

The detained women are then taken if not to the police station, then to a "correctional facility," or a "re-education centre" where they are told how to dress. They are then usually always released on the same day to male relatives who bring the "proper" clothes for them.