Iran’s Morality Police Resurrected?

With the anniversary of Mahsa Amini’s suspicious death in the custody of Iran’s morality police just around the corner, Iran’s state-censored media is reporting on the reactivation of the morality police and renewed enforcement of the mandatory hijab law. Contradictory statements in these reports, however, indicate a lack of consensus among Iran’s ruling elites: Are the morality police still effective as an instrument of repression against the urban middle class, or do they provoke middle-class protests against the regime?

• July 16: Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps mouthpiece Mashregh News quoted Commander Saeed Montazer al-Mahdi, spokesperson for the Law Enforcement Forces, who at a press conference declared the “reactivation” of the morality police: “By popular demand and based on requests from different social groups and institutions, consistent with the emphasis of the honorable president and the judiciary, and within the framework of the law, mobile and pedestrian police units will from today on deal with those who unfortunately break the norms by wearing unlawful dress.”
• July 17: Reformist Etemad Daily reported on the “return of the morality police to the streets,” resuming patrols to enforce the hijab law.
• July 17: In a commentary in Etemad, Mohammad-Sadeq Javadihesar argued: “The gap between the government agencies and the public is widening, and no attempt is made to narrow it. Government officials have one set of demands, and the public has demands of its own … Many politicians have reached the conclusion that the enforcement of the hijab and the morality police patrolling have not had any positive achievements … Yet the government pursues the same policy as in the past … It is as if they are waiting for another event like the passing of Mahsa Amini to repeat itself, after which they can reconsider their bad policies.
• July 17: Interviewed by reformist Shargh Daily, parliamentarians expressed surprise at the reactivation of the morality police without their prior knowledge:
  • Gholam-Reza Nouri Qezeljeh, a parliamentarian, said: “Those who have reactivated the morality patrol, or something to that effect, should first and foremost explain the legal basis for doing so … Next, they owe us an explanation regarding the efficacy of the morality patrol. What were its achievements, and how effective has it been in society? … These people should have awaited the result of the deliberations among the Cabinet, the judiciary, and the Parliament so it was clear what the regime and Parliament have decided … The use of the morality police was not a successful experience in the past, and they should not have shown haste in their renewed deployment at the street level.” He also claimed that: “there are certain parliamentarians who are hoping to create public dissatisfaction and lower participation in the next round of elections. With lower electoral participation rates, they can easily get reelected” solely based on the participation of the minority of voters who support government enforcement of the dress code.
  • Mahmoud Abbaszadeh Meshkini, another parliamentarian, said: “The morality patrol was shut down due to criticism of police behavior … Before redeploying the force, we must first do a cost-benefit analysis of its work … But I am not aware of anyone doing such an analysis.”
  • A third parliamentarian, Mehdi Bagheri, on the other hand, likened women without hijab to “thieves” and said the police should enforce the hijab law just as they enforce the sanctity of private property.

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