The Iranian moral police will be disbanded. At the same time, a leaked recording of the conversation shows the concerns of the influential men in the country.
Update from December 5, 2022, 6.30 a.m.: Activists in Iran have called for new nationwide protests and strikes. The so-called 14-15-16 protests – the numbers are the date in the Persian calendar month of Azar – are expected to last from Monday to Wednesday and hit the Islamic system in particular economically. Therefore, Iranian citizens were also called upon to avoid shopping on these three days in order to prevent any money from circulating in the Iranian banking system. According to the activists, as many shops as possible should remain closed, especially in economic centers such as bazaars in large cities.
Ahead of the three-day protests, Iran’s Attorney General’s statement about the disbanding of the vice squad sparked debate in the country. On the one hand, this was seen as a stage victory for the women’s movement in Iran. On the other hand, everyone agreed that this step would be pointless without lifting the headscarf requirement for Iranian women that had been in place for more than 40 years. “The disbanding of the vice squad was necessary, but not enough until the mandatory dress code law is revised,” political scientist Abbas Abdi said on Twitter.
For observers, statements such as the dissolution of the moral police, promises in parliament about a revision of the laws or planned committees of inquiry are only the system’s attempt to calm the tense situation before the three-day protests.
Hackers publish secret conversation recording
+++ 10.45 p.m.: A recording of a conversation between influential men in Iran, classified by numerous experts as authentic, made its way onto the Internet after a hacker attack – and provides insights into the problems of the regime, which has been violently defending itself against massive protests by its population for months. This is reported, among other things, by the news magazine mirror. During the conversation, officials confirmed for the first time that the protests, as a position held by a majority of the Iranian population, could pose a threat to the country’s rulers.
A man, whose voice experts identify as that of Ghasem Ghoreyshi, former spokesman for Iran’s head of state Ali Khamenei, called for future official statements to refer to the protests as “riots that have ended” in order to defuse the situation. Ghoreyshi described the role of oppressed women in the protests as “strange and disconcerting”.
Doubts about the dissolution of the moral police in Iran: Critics speak of “propaganda”
Ghoreyshi can see that more and more women in Iran, including prominent ones, are publicly protesting by taking off their headscarves mirror-Report as a dangerous “domino effect”. As a measure against this “domino effect”, some of the men taking part in the discussion suggest placing more women in full veils, the so-called chadors, in public space and thus directing people’s perception.
+++ 4.35 p.m.: After the Attorney General’s announcement that the so-called moral police had been abolished, observers in Iran speak of a diversionary tactic. The journalist Gilda Sahebi described the move on Twitter as “propaganda” by Iran and referred to local contacts. Meanwhile, the former head of ARD’s Tehran studio, Natalie Amiri, made a connection to the general strike that was called in Iran. Nevertheless, she described the dissolution of the organization as a “partial success”.
+++ 1.35 p.m.: In an unusual move, Iran has announced that it will set up a committee of inquiry to investigate the reasons behind the protests in the country that have been going on for more than two months. However, neither demonstrators, system critics nor other political parties should take part, Interior Minister Ahmad Wahidi said on Sunday, according to the Ilna news agency.
+++ 10.40 a.m.: The Iranian moral police has been dissolved, according to the judiciary. “The morality police have nothing to do with the judiciary and have been shut down by those who established them in the past,” Prosecutor General Mohammed Jafar Montazeri said in the central Iranian city of Qom, according to the Isna news agency.
Morality police in Iran probably disbanded – New “headscarf law” planned
First report: Tehran – People have been protesting in Iran since then Death of 22-year-old Kurd Mahsa Amini against the regime. The young woman was arrested by the vice squad in mid-September for allegedly violating the dress code. Strands of hair would have peeped out from under her headscarf. So far, according to human rights activists, around 470 demonstrators have been killed in the protests.
The Iranian parliament is now reacting because, according to the Attorney General, the vice squad, which was previously mainly responsible for enforcing women’s dress codes, has been dissolved. “The vice squad has been disbanded, but the judiciary will continue to address this societal challenge,” the daily said Shargh Attorney General Mohammed-Jafar Montaseri on Sunday (December 3). There were no further details about the circumstances and the implementation of the resolution.
Protests in Iran: Critics react cautiously to the dissolution of the moral police
Critics of the political leadership in Iran reacted cautiously to the announcement. After all, the moral police is not the problem, but the headscarf requirement. This is how an Iranian activist put it on Twitter: “Women must be able to go everywhere without a headscarf,” he demanded. This is “only the first step.” Other observers assume that the dissolution of the moral police does not mean an end to compulsory headscarves, but an important partial success of the women’s movement in the Iran could represent.
The Iranian prosecutor only announced on Friday that he was working with the Iranian parliament on a headscarf law. In the Islamic Republic, a law is being examined that would oblige women to cover their heads. “Parliament and the judiciary are working” on this issue, Montaseri had declared, according to the Isna news agency. He announced results in “a week or two” but did not comment on what might change to the original law.
Iran: Protests against Iranian dress code for women continue
The vice police were the trigger for the system-critical uprisings in the country that have been going on for more than two months after the death of 22-year-old Amini. Since The headscarf is compulsory when the protests break out and the Islamic dress codes are increasingly being ignored by many women. According to Islamic law, women must wear a headscarf and a long, loose coat to cover their hair and body contours in public. This law has been part of the socio-political doctrine of the Islamic system for more than 40 years in order, as it is called, to “save the country and people from Western cultural invasion”.
Further protests – and according to opposition circles also strikes – are planned across the country from Monday. (ktho/vbu/skr/dpa)