Since September 2022, Iran has been hit in almost every street and square by protests. Protesters have come out to demand more freedom, from freedom of expression to the possibility of not wearing the veil.
The Ayatollahs’ government did not accede to any of the protesters’ demands by violently repressing them with the help of the moral police.
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Has Iran really abolished the moral police? Here is what State TV and al Jazeera say
The casus belli was the death of Mahsa Amini, a young Iranian Kurdish woman who wore the veil badly. Moral police officers beat her several times until she was killed. The state deprived the results of the autopsy by attributing the death to congenital pathologies.
Since that day, the Iranian people have never stopped protesting and have been clamouring for the abolition of the moral police as well, an institution that in fact only exists in Iran.
Just yesterday, Sunday December 4th 2022, Mohammad Jafar Montazeri, Iran’s Attorney General, loudly announced that the moral police had been abolished. The whole world rejoiced and Iranian citizens saw the first fruits of their battles. Too bad, however, that the enthusiasm was short-lived because al Jazeera, the Middle Eastern media giant, declared:
“There is no confirmation that the work of the patrol units, officially tasked with ensuring ‘moral security’ in the society has actually ended.”
Iranian Arabic-language state TV Al-Alam, quoted by CNN later announced:
“No official of the Islamic Republic of Iran has said that the Guidance Patrol has been closed”.
The Iranian people will therefore still have to wait. The government in Tehran does not seem to want to take any steps towards its citizens.
Demonstrations in Iran amidst deaths, repression and zero tolerance
Meanwhile, protesters have called for a two-day general mobilisation, from today, 5 December 2022, to 7 December 2022.
The government forces, who have already shown their strength of repression by committing murders and imprisoning and sentencing to death some protesters, are this time charged with using zero tolerance towards protesters.
The protests are growing bigger and bigger. Recently a 27-year-old boy was killed because he was celebrating the US victory against Iran at the World Cup in Qatar 2022.
A 16-year-old girl was beaten to death because she wore a cap and not a veil to cover her face. A former footballer and captain of the Iranian national team was arrested during training in front of his 10-year-old son. This, to teach a lesson to the players involved in Qatar who did not sing the anthem during the match against England.
These are only the most recent cases but there are many others, especially among underage protesters.
After the Ayatollahs’ direct threats, we will see whether Iranians will allow themselves to be intimidated by the regime. Or continue to fight for their rights.
