The World Briefly

July 17, 2023

The Rules Rebound

Iran

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Iran’s morality police resumed their operations across the country, authorities announced Sunday, less than a year after the death of a 22-year-old woman in their custody sparked mass demonstrations in the Islamic Republic, the Associated Press reported.

Officials said there will be a new campaign to force women to wear the Islamic headscarf – the hijab – in public, adding that the police unit would resume notifying and detaining women who violate the dress code.

The morality police retreated from public view following the death of Mahsa Amini in September, who was accused of violating the country’s strict hijab rules.

Her death prompted outrage in conservative Iran and resulted in months-long, women-led protests calling for the removal of the dress code. The demonstrations soon turned into calls for the overthrow of Iran’s clerical leaders.

But the protests were quelled earlier this year after Iranian authorities launched a bloody crackdown that saw more than 500 people killed and nearly 20,000 detained.

During the protests, reports emerged that the morality police had been disbanded – but officials denied that claim.

Iran’s government insisted throughout the crisis that the rules had not changed, adding that the hijab was a key pillar of the 1979 Islamic revolution. Officials also blamed the protests on foreign interference.

This story originally appeared in the July 17, 2023 newsletter, The Autocrat, the Lapdog.