The Real Reason Iran Says It’s Canceling the Morality Police

Last week, Iranian Attorney General Mohammad Jafar Montazeri announced that the Guidance Patrol, widely known as the Morality Police because it enforces the Islamic Republic’s laws on personal behavior and dress, will be suspended. Though Montazeri quickly added that the judiciary will continue to monitor public conduct, the announcement is a clear acknowledgment of the toll that the demonstrations have taken on the regime since September, when the death in Guidance Patrol custody of a 22-year-old Kurdish Iranian woman, Mahsa Amini, led to widespread protests.

In the typical fashion of senior Iranian officials, Montazeri was vague and did not make clear whether the supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, has approved the decision. Nor did he disclose what will happen to women who appear in public without the, “A revolution is what we have. Hijab was the start of it, and we don’t want … anything less but death for the dictator and a regime change.”