Iran to resume hijab patrols after protests over death in custody

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Iran has said its morality police will resume patrols to force women to wear headscarves in public, 10 months after the death of a young woman in custody triggered nationwide protests.

The Islamic government on Sunday threatened criminal prosecution for women refusing to obey laws requiring them to wear hijabs in public. That marked a change of tone from recent months, when many women had begun leaving their homes without hijabs or long shirts and enforcement was limited.

In September 2022 Mahsa Amini, a 22-year-old woman, was arrested by the morality police for not properly observing the country’s dress code. She died in police custody a few days later.

Iran’s security forces used lethal force to crack down on the ensuing protests but analysts believe that in recent months it had made an unspoken compromise over the hijab, a pillar of clerical rule.

The morality police had largely disappeared from Iran’s streets after Amini’s death, though piecemeal enforcement did take place against businesses serving women without hijabs.

Saeed Montazer Al-Mahdi, spokesperson for the national police force, said on Sunday: “As of today, the police will have no other choice but to legally deal with those who are heedless of their dress code and insist on violating it.

“In case of refusal to listen to the police, they [women] will be referred to the judiciary.” 

The fresh crackdown, he said, aimed to help “social solidarity”, “strengthen family foundations” and “respond to public demands” as well as to requests from senior leaders, including President Ebrahim Raisi.

It was not immediately clear whether the Islamic republic was determined to implement its threat strictly, which could heighten tensions between the police and population. Little sign of the morality police was visible in Tehran’s streets on Sunday.

In busy locations such as Tajrish Square, where the force was previously stationed, the police were not in evidence and women could be seen without headscarves and bare-legged.

The government may now be anticipating fresh demonstrations around the anniversary of Amini’s death, which sparked protests under the banner “woman, life, freedom” and a crackdown in which hundreds of people were killed.

The republic has also imposed unusual punishments in recent weeks on women deemed to have broken morality laws. A woman in the town of Varamin, whose scarf had slipped on to her shoulders while driving, was sentenced last week to washing dead bodies for a month.

Well-known actress Azadeh Samadi, who attended a funeral wearing a cap instead of a headscarf, was also sentenced on Saturday to attend psychological classes for her “social illness”.

A female customer at a Tehran fabric shop on Sunday said: “The Islamic republic knows it cannot win this war, and women are not scared of them.”

The protests following Amini’s death also took place as Iran’s economy deteriorated, partly as the result of US sanctions over its nuclear programme. The fabric shopkeeper said: “In the middle of this economic crisis, such announcements [about the morality police] only make people angrier.”