Police Spokesman: Guidance Patrols Will Be Deployed on the Streets

Saeed Montazeralmahdi, spokesman for the Islamic Republic of Iran's Law Enforcement Force (FRAJA), announced the return of "Guidance Patrols" to the streets starting Sunday. According to the police spokesman, this action was taken in response to "public demands and requests from various social groups and institutions, as well as the emphasis of the President and the Judiciary." This law enforcement official stated that the Guidance Patrols will resume their activities starting Sunday, July 16, within the framework of the law and with the aim of expanding public security and strengthening family foundations. He also emphasized that they will confront "norm-breakers" and individuals with "non-standard attire." Although rumors of the return of the Guidance Patrols had begun circulating alongside images of law enforcement confronting women who come to the streets with optional hijab, the spokesman's statements today confirmed their return to the streets. The newspaper "Farhikhtegan," affiliated with Azad University, reacted to the footage of "confrontations with non-hijab wearers," describing it as a "banana peel" and protesting this behavior. Javad Naqvi, a journalist with the "Farhikhtegan" newspaper, referred to the violent confrontation of a Guidance Patrol officer with a woman in the street as a "return to point zero" and wrote: "Images from Andarzgoo Street show that not only has the experience of the protests of 2022 failed to provide a perspective for governance to utilize, but it has also returned to the pre-protests period and point zero." In this context, Vali Esmaeili, head of the Social Commission of the Islamic Consultative Assembly, stated that "it seems unlikely that there has been any coordination or agreement with the Islamic Consultative Assembly for the re-establishment of moral security patrols." The presence of Guidance Patrols on the streets comes after the death of Mahsa Amini in the custody of the Tehran Guidance Patrol and the onset of nationwide protests, during which the Guidance Patrol had ended its street presence without any explanation or confirmation from officials. In December 2022, Mohammad Jafar Montazeri, the Attorney General, stated in response to the "closure" of the Guidance Patrol that it had no relation to the Judiciary and that "it was closed from the same place it was established in the past." The performance of the Guidance Patrol has always faced public criticism, and ultimately, the death of Mahsa Amini in the custody of the Guidance Patrol in September 2022 marked the beginning of a new chapter in the issue of mandatory hijab. Taghi Rahmani speaks of intensified crackdowns ahead of the anniversary of Mahsa Amini's death in Guidance Patrol custody, highlighting the physical confrontation of a Guidance Patrol officer with a girl who does not wear a mandatory hijab. As the anniversary of Mahsa Amini approaches, the Guidance Patrol has quietly returned to the streets, while the Judiciary's efforts to counter women's civil resistance continue with the issuance of "astonishing" rulings. Fifty-four lawyers supporting Mahsa Amini's family have been summoned to the Prosecutor's Office in Boukan, and there have been raids by Islamic Republic forces on homes in Minab, along with severe checkpoints in Kermanshah.