Radan: The 'Noor' Plan is Law, and Behdar-Medical is 'Interested' in Implementing the Law

As calls continue for Masoud Behdar-Medical, Iran's new president, to abandon the so-called 'Noor' plan and morality patrols, the commander of the police force has claimed that the police are 'enforcers of the law' in this matter. Ahmadreza Radan stated on Saturday, August 18, 'Regarding the implementation of the Noor plan, we must refer to the law, because anything that is law, the police are its enforcers and must act according to the law.' He emphasized, 'Unless the obligation is removed from the police through the same legal path.' The police chief made these remarks in response to a question about the implementation of the Noor plan under the fourteenth government and Behdar-Medical's presidency. However, while the police chief speaks of the so-called 'Noor' plan, a government program to confront women opposing mandatory hijab in public spaces, as a legal action, this plan is not law. Furthermore, the bill known as the Hijab and Chastity has not yet been approved by the Guardian Council. Mohammad Khatami: When Behdar-Medical says the Noor plan is a dark plan, he will naturally stand against it. The Noor plan began on April 14 of this year with the renewed presence of morality patrols in some urban areas, and numerous reports of violent beatings and arrests of women have been published. On August 7, a video was released on social media showing violent encounters between Noor plan agents and two teenage girls in Tehran, where police officers forcibly arrested the girls who were not wearing headscarves. Three days ago, Mohammad Khatami, the former president of Iran and a supporter of Behdar-Medical, said that when Behdar-Medical 'says the Noor plan is a dark plan, he will naturally stand against it.' Behdar-Medical, who criticized the morality patrol during his election campaign, has not yet spoken about his intention to prevent this plan. However, Radan stated, 'What I understood is that the respected president is very interested in enforcing the law, and in a conversation we had, he considers the law as his criterion and we must follow the path.' The commander of the police force, like other senior military commanders, is appointed by the Supreme Leader of the Islamic Republic, and the government or the Islamic Consultative Assembly has no oversight power over the police and armed forces. Radan also commented on the possibility of the plan being abolished following Behdar-Medical's election, saying, 'We did not discuss the why of the issue; there may be something in the how of the issue. So there is a why, and the how may have differences in execution at any moment.' Following the death of Mahsa Amini in September 2022, a wave of nationwide protests against mandatory hijab erupted in Iran, temporarily halting the presence of morality patrols in cities. The police confirmed the continued injury of 31-year-old Arzu Badri due to police gunfire. Reports concerning Arzu Badri indicate that she and another female passenger in the car did not adhere to the mandatory hijab approved by the government. The severe governmental repression and the risk of protests becoming 'underground' continue. What doctors and eyewitnesses recount about the injured in the protests reveals the limitations of relations between China and Iran amid the protests. One provincial official stated that 400 people were killed in Mashhad; a journalist from Ham-Mihan reported that Tehran smells of death. Eyewitness accounts describe the massacre and the situation in several cities in Isfahan province as 'like war-torn areas.' The last representative of Mossad in Tehran passed away amid the Iran crisis. Trump announced an agreement to hold a meeting about Greenland in Davos. Weather conditions halted the search for an Iranian mountaineer on Makalu Peak.