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Status of Iran morality police unclear after ‘closure’ comment

FILE - In this photo taken by an individual not employed by the Associated Press and obtained by the AP outside Iran, Iranians protests the death of 22-year-old Mahsa Amini after she was detained by the morality police, in Tehran, Oct. 1, 2022. In a report published by The Iranian student news agency, Nezamoddin Mousavi, an Iranian lawmaker said Sunday, Dec. 4, 2022, that Iran’s government was ‘‘paying attention to the people’s real demands,’’ a day after another key official announced that the country’s religious police force had been closed following months of deadly anti-government protests. (AP Photo/Middle East Images, File)
by: WRTV Staff
Posted: / Updated:

The status of Iran’s morality police remains uncertain two days after a top Iranian official claimed that they had reportedly been shut down.

In a report by the Iranian Student News Agency (ISNA), Iran’s chief prosecutor Mohamed Jafar Montazeri said Saturday that the morality police, which enforces the country’s Islamic dress codes, “had been closed,” the Associated Press reported.

Iranian state media strongly pushed back on those comments, adding that the interior ministry oversees the force, not the judiciary, PBS and CNN reported.

News of the morality police supposedly being disbanded comes amid protests after 22-year-old Mahsa Amini died while in their custody in September, the news outlets reported. She was being held for allegedly not wearing her hijab properly, the news outlets reported.

Under Islamic law, it’s mandatory for women to wear a hijab in public.

Her death set off a wave of protests across Iran.

According to ISNA, Montazeri said Friday that the government was reviewing the mandatory hijab law.

There is currently no evidence that changes have been made about the force, which was established in 2005, the Associated Press reported.

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