Have the vice squads responsible for the death of Mahsa Amini, which sparked the protests that have rocked the country for weeks, really been repressed? The December 4 announcement by a regime prosecutor general is unconvincing.
Prosecutor General Mohammad Jafar Montazeri, quoted by Iran’s Isna news agency on Sunday December 4, announced the end of the vice squad in the country. However, this proclamation, which comes after three months of demonstrations following the death of Mahsa Amini, would have no merit. In detail, following a reporter’s question about the possible abolition of the morality police, Montazeri said: “The morality police have nothing to do with the judiciary, and they were abolished by those who created them. Of course, the judiciary will continue to control the mores of society”.
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A misinterpreted ad?
After this announcement, many media outlets circulated this phrase about the abolition of this police agency, while the prosecutor himself announced the maintenance of Iranian influence on the issue of morality. However, Iranian state television Al-Alam was quick to announce that this information was untrue, claiming that “no Islamic Republic of Iran official has announced the dissolution of the Morality Police”.
As Jonathan Piron, an Iranian researcher at the Etiopia think tank interviewed by La Dépêche, explained, Montazeri has no control over the Morality Police. “The prosecutor did not announce the dissolution, he replied to a journalist’s question as to why the vice squad had not been seen since the demonstrations. He then explained that this question was not within his competence and that it was the responsibility of those responsible for rejected this broadcast, but his ambiguous answer was forwarded as a resolution. The regime then announced possible reforms on the issue of the veil, which increased the virality of this information.
So it is actually a misinterpretation of a dissolution of the morale stick. The question asked was mainly related to the reason for the current absence of brigades on the streets. Only the Supreme Council of the Cultural Revolution has the power to dissolve https://t.co/CiAqCJLGTX
— Jonathan Piron (@jonathanpiron1) December 4, 2022
A power encamped upon their positions
As the historian and political scientist explains: “The vice squad is dependent on the police force and attached to the Supreme Council of the Cultural Revolution, so the prosecutor’s office has no control over this structure. It remains to be seen whether the system will change.” in the next few days, but according to the current announcements, the obligation to obfuscate will normally remain in place, so that the responsibilities of the morals brigade would in any case be shifted elsewhere”. Stéphane Dudoignon, researcher specializing in Iran at CNRS and author of The Guardians of the Islamic Revolution of Iran confirms this analysis: “If abolition were to take place, Khamenei’s consent would be required”.
According to Stéphane Dudoignon, the moral police would also still be active: “This program would continue to this day, according to photos of the demonstrations, which are difficult to date”. And its abolition would not be enough to stop the mobilization against the regime, according to the CNRS researcher: “An unprecedented three-day general strike was announced, with the slogan ‘union, strike, revolution'”. Thus the movement appears to be radicalizing and any concessions to the vice squad would come far too late to stop the movement with a government line hitherto exclusively geared towards repression”.