On the Eve of 'Mahsa Amini's Anniversary'; Morality Police Quietly Returns to the Streets

Amidst the ongoing struggle between 'the people and the Islamic Republic' over 'hijab', the morality police has returned to the streets of the capital. Etemad Online reported the sighting of morality police vehicles and their well-known vans in the streets of Tehran. Images shared on social media also show a woman with optional hijab being forcibly directed towards a police van by morality police officers in the Gisha area. According to Etemad Online, the active presence of morality police in main squares and streets has resumed. Khabar Online confirmed this occurrence, stating that Tehran's streets witnessed numerous morality police vans from the morning of Saturday, July 15. This presence has been accompanied by warnings to individuals without hijab or improperly veiled. The return of the morality police to the streets comes after the death of Mahsa Amini in custody and the onset of nationwide protests, during which the morality police had ended their street presence without any explanation or confirmation from officials. In December 2022, Mohammad Jafar Montazeri, the Attorney General, stated that the morality police was not related to the judiciary and was suspended from the same place it was established. It now appears that the morality police has resumed operations from where it was suspended. This comes despite President Ebrahim Raisi stating during his presidential campaign that if elected, he would transfer the responsibility for implementing hijab and chastity plans from the Ministry of Interior to the Ministry of Culture. The hijab and chastity plan was issued by Mahmoud Ahmadinejad's government in 2005. This plan began in the summer of 2006 with the presence of green morality police vans in the streets, and in 2007, the police officially started enforcing it against those wearing boots. The actions of the morality police have always faced public criticism, and ultimately, the death of Mahsa Amini in custody marked a new chapter in the issue of mandatory hijab. The First Deputy of the Judiciary stated on the day the morality police returned to the streets that the judiciary and police must confront those who systematically and adversarially violate hijab norms. Mohammad Mosaddegh Kohnamoui described the protests following Mahsa Amini's death as 'an excuse for executing the enemy's plan' and emphasized that 'even if she had not died, these disturbances would have been planned and executed by the enemy.'