Months after nationwide protests against mandatory hijab rules rocked Iran, the countrys infamous morality police is back in the streets to reinforce the strict dress code, Qatari news outlet Al-Jazeera reported.Saeid Montazeralmahdi, the spokesman for Irans law enforcement body, Faraja, said on Sunday that the morality police will restart foot and vehicle patrols across the country, as reported by Irans state-run news agency Fars.Iranian authorities on Sunday announced a new campaign to force women to wear the Islamic headscarf and morality police returned to the streets 10 months after the death of a woman in their custody sparked nationwide protests.https://t.co/kbuxZ6Kaoo pic.twitter.com/pKfg3j7rU8— me@narimangharib.com (@NarimanGharib) July 16, 2023The morality officers will first warn the women whose attire is considered inappropriate, and those who insist on breaking the norms will face legal action, Montazeralmahdi said.“The police would issue warnings and then introduce to the judicial system people who unfortunately insist on their norm-breaking behaviour without concern for the consequences of their covering that is outside of the norm,” Montazeralmahdi said in an official video.The spokesman also said that this step was taken “to deal with women who do not wear the mandatory hijab and does not care about the dangers of having the freedom to choose their own clothes”. He said that the authorities expect Iranian women to comply with the dress code so that officers had more time to deal with other vital police missions.Irans morality police, officially known as Guidance Patrol, are tasked with reprimanding the men – and mostly women – whose dress is deemed to be against Islamic norms.Shortly after the news was announced, videos emerged from Iran that showed morality officers harassing both men and women and in one shocking video, a lady officer can be seen trying to forcefully detain a girl for not wearing a hijab. Women who are detained by the morality police are taken to the various so-called re-education facilities run by the agency.This is Iran today and this is how the morality police arrested a teenager for not wearing a hijab. Mahsa Zhina Amini was taken away like this, then killed. Where are those journalists who excitedly reported the cancellation of those morality police #WomanLifeFreedom pic.twitter.com/xndXlnnkSB— Masih Alinejad 🏳️ (@AlinejadMasih) July 15, 2023Yet another harrowing video showing a woman being arrested and forcefully shoved into a car by the morality police.The treatment of Iranian women as second-class citizens under the fanatical Islamic Regime is beyond unacceptable. This is not the way anyone should have to live. pic.twitter.com/EzrFPQkzdJ— Sarah Raviani (@sarahraviani) July 15, 2023In another high-profile incident, actor Mohamad Sadeghi was arrested by the authorities for threatening the police. Sadeghi, reacting to an online video of the female morality officer pushing a lady against the wall over hijab, said, “If I see a scene like this in person I might commit murder. Watch out, you better believe the people will kill you.”Iranian actor Mohammad Sadeghi was expressing his anger at the return of morality police to the streets on an Instagram live when Islamic Republics agents raided and broke into his house to arrest him. He tried to show all these moments in his live despite internet outages. pic.twitter.com/waWb7tFfS1— Iran International English (@IranIntl_En) July 16, 2023Morality Police back after ten months as Iran authorities strengthen gripThe latest move to reinstate the morality police is a way for the Islamic Republic government to strengthen its grips on a nation that was rocked by nationwide protests after the death of Mahsa Amini. The morality police were taken off the streets for 10 months as Iranian authorities struggled to contain the largest challenges to the authorities since the Islamic Revolution.Amini, 22, died after being detained by the morality police for an improper hijab. After she died in detention, the entire country was rocked by violent protests, which left more than 537 people, including 68 minors, dead. Almost twenty thousand people were detained, and at least seven have been executed for participating in the protests.
