Too early to rejoice: the Iranian government did not even think about abolishing the vice police (video)

Ivan Zubov

On Sunday, December 4, the world media happily reported that the Iranian government, after several months of mass protests by the population of this country, allegedly backed down and decided to abolish the vice police, as well as revise the norms for wearing the hijab. Recall that the reason for the protests was just the actions of the morality police officers, who tortured to death the Iranian girl Mahsa Amini, who was detained for "wrong" wearing the hijab.

However, these reports were denied by Iran's state news channel Al Alam, which said that there was a misinterpretation of the words of Attorney General Mohammad Jaafar Montazeri - he only said that the patrols were not connected with the judiciary. Patrols continue to enforce the "hijab and chastity" rules, the reporters said.

Meanwhile, this news has already caused a new wave of protests: a three-day general strike has begun in Iran. The Guardian notes that the citizens of the country have not received confirmation of the closure of the department, in addition, the country's prosecutor general is not responsible for overseeing the vice police, which means he could not dissolve it.

Experts remind in this regard that not only the morality police, but also other structures, including ordinary police, the “Guards of the Islamic Revolution” of the IRGC, as well as the Islamic “militia” Basij, have the right to monitor compliance with the norms of wearing the hijab. Violation of these norms is equivalent to violation of the country's legislative norms, and therefore it is not at all necessary to have a special structure for supervision. There have been no less public outrageous incidents with the rude behavior of Basij members in matters of hijab in the past than with the vice police.

It is curious that one of the forms of anti-clerical protest in Iran was also chosen by the youth: to run up to a mullah walking down the street and knock off his hat.

So far in Iran, things are like this:

-- Oslo-based NGO Iran Human Rights said on Tuesday that at least 448 people have been "killed by security forces in ongoing nationwide protests".

- UN human rights chief Volker Türk last week cited figures for those arrested during the crackdown in Iran: according to his information, 14,000 people, including children, were arrested.

- Among the latest arrested is Iranian movie star Mitra Hajjar, who was detained at her home on Saturday, writes The Guardian, citing Shargh. The actress was arrested for publicly removing her headscarf in solidarity with the protest movement. Earlier, the media wrote about the detention of two Iranian actresses - Hengame Ghaziani and Katayoun Riahi - accused of collusion and actions against the authorities.