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Iran to disband morality police amid ongoing protests, says attorney general Uncertainty over Iran’s morality police after official's 'disbanded' remarks
(about 5 hours later)
A protester holds a picture of Mahsa Amini during protests in Turkey last monthA protester holds a picture of Mahsa Amini during protests in Turkey last month
Iran's morality police, which is tasked with enforcing the country's Islamic dress code, is being disbanded, the country's attorney general says. There is uncertainty over the status of Iran's morality police, which enforces its dress code, after a senior official suggested that it had been disbanded.
Mohammad Jafar Montazeri's comments, yet to be confirmed by other agencies, were made at an event on Sunday. When asked about the Guidance Patrol at a conference, Attorney General Mohammad Jafar Montazeri said they "have been shut down from where they were set up".
Iran has seen months of protests over the death of a young woman in custody. However, the government did not confirm the move and local media reported that his remarks had been "misinterpreted".
Mahsa Amini had been detained by the morality police for allegedly breaking strict rules on head coverings. The death of a woman detained by the force has sparked nationwide protests.
Mr Montazeri was at a religious conference when he was asked if the morality police was being disbanded. Mahsa Amini, 22, collapsed and fell into a coma shortly after being arrested in Tehran on 13 September for allegedly violating the rule requiring women to cover their hair with a hijab, or headscarf.
"The morality police had nothing to do with the judiciary and have been shut down from where they were set up," he said. There were reports that morality police officers beat her head with a baton. The police said she suffered a heart attack.
Control of the force lies with the interior ministry and not with the judiciary. Anti-government protests - labelled "riots" by Iranian authorities - swept across Iran after Ms Amini died in hospital on 16 September.
On Saturday, Mr Montazeri also told the Iranian parliament the law that requires women to wear hijabs would be looked at. But while her death was the catalyst for the unrest, it has also been driven by long-standing discontent over poverty, unemployment, inequality, injustice and corruption.
A really simple guide to Iran's protestsA really simple guide to Iran's protests
Women, men, children - faces of those who have died in IranWomen, men, children - faces of those who have died in Iran
Even if the morality police is shut down this does not mean the decades-old law will be changed. Iran has had various forms of "morality police" since the 1979 Islamic Revolution, but the latest version - known formally as the Guidance Patrol (Gasht-e Ershad) - is currently the main agency tasked enforcing Iran's Islamic code of conduct.
Women-led protests, labelled "riots" by the authorities, have swept Iran since 22-year-old Amini died in custody on 16 September, three days after her arrest by the morality police in Tehran. They began their patrols in 2006 to enforce the dress code which also requires women to wear long clothes and forbids shorts, ripped jeans and other clothes deemed immodest.
Her death was the catalyst for the unrest but it also follows discontent over poverty, unemployment, inequality, injustice and corruption. Mr Montazeri was a religious conference when he was asked about the Guidance Patrol.
"The morality police had nothing to do with the judiciary and have been shut down from where they were set up," he said.
However, he stressed that the judiciary would continue "to monitor behavioural actions at the community level".
The Guidance Patrol is part of the national police force and control lies with the interior ministry and not with the judiciary.
After the BBC and other foreign media picked up the attorney general's statement, some Iranian state media outlets pushed back on the morality police had been disbanded.
State-run Arabic-language TV channel Al-Alam said some had "tried to misinterpret" what the attorney general said.
"The most that can be understood from Mohammed Jafar Montazeri's remarks is that the morality police's patrols have not been connected to the judiciary since their inception."
Conservative outlet Student News Network (SNN) dismissed the "false headlines" and stressed that observing hijab is "still a law in Iran".
However, the reformist Sharq newspaper said it had approached the public relations office of Tehran's police force but that officials had "dodged" its question on disbanding the Guidance Patrol.
And when asked about Mr Montazeri's remarks during a visit to Serbia, Iranian Foreign Minister Hossein Amir-Abdollahian neither confirmed nor denied that they were correct.
"In Iran, everything is moving forward well in the framework of democracy and freedom," he said.
On Saturday, Mr Montazeri also told the Iranian parliament the law that requires women to wear hijabs would be looked at.
'A revolution is what we have''A revolution is what we have'
If confirmed, the scrapping of the morality police would be a concession but there are no guarantees it would be enough to halt the protests, which have seen demonstrators burn their head coverings. If confirmed, the scrapping of the morality police would be a concession to the protesters.
But there are no guarantees it would be enough to halt the unrest, which has seen women waving their headscarves in the air and setting them on fire.
"Just because the government has decided to dismantle morality police it doesn't mean the protests are ending," one Iranian woman told the BBC World Service's Newshour programme."Just because the government has decided to dismantle morality police it doesn't mean the protests are ending," one Iranian woman told the BBC World Service's Newshour programme.
"Even the government saying the hijab is a personal choice is not enough. People know Iran has no future with this government in power. We will see more people from different factions of Iranian society, moderate and traditional, coming out in support of women to get more of their rights back.""Even the government saying the hijab is a personal choice is not enough. People know Iran has no future with this government in power. We will see more people from different factions of Iranian society, moderate and traditional, coming out in support of women to get more of their rights back."
Another woman said: "We, the protesters, don't care about no hijab no more. We've been going out without it for the past 70 days.Another woman said: "We, the protesters, don't care about no hijab no more. We've been going out without it for the past 70 days.
"A revolution is what we have. Hijab was the start of it and we don't want anything, anything less, but death for the dictator and a regime change.""A revolution is what we have. Hijab was the start of it and we don't want anything, anything less, but death for the dictator and a regime change."
Iranian state media pushed back on the claim the country's morality police is being disbanded, according to CNN.
State television channel Al-Alam reportedly said foreign media were portraying Mr Montazeri's comments as "the Islamic Republic retreating from the issue of hijab and modesty and claim that it is due to the recent riots".
"But no official of the Islamic Republic of Iran has said that the Guidance Patrol has been shut."
US Secretary of State Antony Blinken said the abolition of Iran's morality police could be "a positive thing" and praised the "extraordinary courage of Iranian young people, especially women, who've been leading these protests".US Secretary of State Antony Blinken said the abolition of Iran's morality police could be "a positive thing" and praised the "extraordinary courage of Iranian young people, especially women, who've been leading these protests".
Blinken said: "If the regime has now responded in some fashion, to those protests, that could be a positive thing." "If the regime has now responded in some fashion, to those protests, that could be a positive thing," he added.
Iran has had various forms of "morality police" since the 1979 Islamic Revolution, but the latest version - known formally as the Gasht-e Ershad - is currently the main agency tasked enforcing Iran's Islamic code of conduct.
They began their patrols in 2006 to enforce the dress code which also requires women to wear long clothes and forbids shorts, ripped jeans and other clothes deemed immodest.