The Iranian Attorney General, Mohammed Jafar Montazeri, announced the abolition of the morality police by the Iranian government, the ISNA news agency reported on Sunday.
“The morality police have nothing to do with the judiciary,” and it was abolished by those who created it, the attorney general is quoted as saying during a visit to the city of Qom. The comments came during a religious conference in the city, when the top prosecutor answered a question from a participant.
Iran’s morality police, also known as the Gasht-e Ershad or guidance patrols, were first created under the rule of ultra-conservative President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, to promote the “culture of decency and hijab.”
This infamous police unit, made up primarily of men in green uniforms and women in black chador, first began patrolling Iran's streets in 2006. The morality police have long been unpopular, stopping women for the smallest Islamic infractions and hassling young lovers.
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The institution came under renewed scrutiny after the death of Mahsa Amini at the hands of the morality police in September. She was detained for having violated the dress code of the Islamic Republic.
The police killing sparked a series of nationwide anti-clerical and anti-regime mass protests across the country, which government forces have so-far failed to contain. In response to Amini’s killing, women have removed their headscarves in protest of the country’s mandatory hijab law.
