The protesters celebrate the first day of the strike and the regime warns that there will be new methods to control the use of the veil
The ambiguous statements by the Iranian Attorney General, Mohamad Javad Montazeri, about the suspension of the work of the Morale Police did not influence the mood of the protesters and Iran experienced the first of the three days called for a general strike. Kurdistan, the province where the young Mahsa Amini was born and was buried, killed at the hands of this control body on September 16, was once again the place where the greatest monitoring was recorded, according to different non-governmental organizations.
Despite the lack of leadership, the protests under the slogan “woman, life, freedom” do not cease and have already achieved their first moral victory, a victory that they have paid for with the lives of more than 200 people, according to government data. .
There is no official confirmation from the Ministry of the Interior, responsible for the ‘orientation patrols’ (Gasht-e Ershad, in Farsi), but Montazeri’s announcement was confirmed by the spokesman for the ‘Office for the Promotion of Good and the Ban on Evil’, the body responsible for determining and enforcing the correct behavior patterns in Iranian society. In statements to the local news outlet Jamaran, Ali Khan Mohamadi stated that “all the missions of the ‘orientation patrols’ have ended” and announced that from his office they are working on the application of “more modern methods” to enforce the law that obliges the use of the hijab. Mohamadi advanced that they seek “an atmosphere that is not unidirectional”, although at no time did he open the door to dialogue with those who protest in the streets.
“It will remain active”
Iranian journalists such as Kiam Sharifi, linked to the BBC channel, assured that from now on “the Morality Police could change its ways, but it will continue to be active as it has been since the birth of the Islamic republic in one way or another.”
The mobilizations continue and after three months the Iranians now know that Amini’s death was not in vain. The discussion about the Morality Police, which was already open between the conservative and moderate sectors of the regime before the protests, has accelerated the decision to suspend the patrols and seek new ways to enforce the use of the veil. The authorities would like it to be something voluntary on the part of women, but for years an important part of society, especially in cities, has not shared the imposition of a dress code.
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