Iran has reinstated its police force to enforce the conservative dress code for women, which has been widely ignored since the start of the protest movement in the country. The protests initially began due to the death of a 22-year-old woman, Mahsa Amini, who was arrested for violating the dress code. In an attempt to calm the widespread upheaval against the government, the morality police were quietly withdrawn from the streets. However, the police force has now returned to deal with those who persistently break the dress code. The police will first issue warnings to offenders, but persistent non-compliance will result in prosecution.
It remains unclear whether the government has redeployed the morality police or if the regular police force has been assigned their duties. The protest movement initially focused on the mandatory hijab law before expanding to address wider social restrictions, corruption, inflation, a struggling economy, and political repression. For months, the government turned a blind eye to the increasing number of women choosing not to wear the hijab. However, the hijab holds significant symbolic importance in Iran’s ultraconservative Islamic system, making it unlikely that the government would completely abandon its enforcement. Therefore, recent measures, such as the closure of businesses serving customers without hijabs and the use of surveillance cameras to track offenders, have been introduced.
In recent weeks, several celebrities have faced prosecution for their failure to adhere to the dress code. For instance, actress Azadeh Samadi received a ban from social media and was ordered to see a psychologist to prove she was not a sociopath after attending a funeral without a hijab. Another woman caught driving without a hijab received a punishment of one month preparing corpses for burial. Following the announcement of the reintroduction of patrols, police officers and vans were spotted in various cities, including Tehran, Kermanshah, and Shiraz.
Although state news media has attempted to downplay the reintroduction of the morality police vans, the videos and reports circulating on social media have sparked fear and anger within the Iranian population. Many Iranian women believe that the larger confrontation regarding the hijab has already been resolved in their favor, and there is no turning back to the pre-protest era. However, the government’s brutal response to these protests continues to strain society. The issue of the hijab has become so inflamed that even actors like Mohammad Sadeghi, who openly criticized the new crackdown, have been violently arrested.
Overall, Iranian society remains divided between those who reject the conservative dress code and those who support it. The reintroduction of the police force to enforce the hijab law signifies the government’s commitment to upholding its ultraconservative values, despite growing opposition.
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