In Iran, the police reinforce the control of unveiled women in public places

Iranian police announced on Sunday July 16 that they had restored patrols to punish more and more women for not wearing the veil in public places. “As of today, the police will, by carrying out patrols by car and on foot, warn and punish people who, unfortunately, disobey orders and continue to disobey the dress code”said police spokesman Saïd Montazeralmahdi, quoted by the Tasnim agency.

This announcement was made ten months after the death, on September 16, 2022, of the 22-year-old Iranian Kurd Mahsa Amini, arrested by the morality police who accused her of having violated the dress code of the Islamic Republic, imposing in particular on women wearing the veil in public.

Protest movement

Photos and videos, the authenticity of which could not be independently verified by Agence France-Presse, were posted on social media, showing policewomen in chadors admonishing and arresting women not wearing the veil.

The death of Mahsa Amini had sparked a vast protest movement with demonstrations in several cities in October and November before ebbing. Several hundred people, including members of the security forces, were killed and thousands were arrested. Seven men were executed for their involvement in this movement.

Called into question by the demonstrators, the morality police had since largely disappeared from the streets. And more and more women were going out with their heads uncovered, especially in Tehran and the big cities.