Iran denies suspending ‘morality police’ following months of protests

Iran has denied scrapping the country’s so-called “morality police” after Public Prosecutor, Mohammad Jaafar Montazeri, indicated that the controversial office “had been closed” following months of protests.

In statements on Saturday, Montazeri stressed that the moral force “has nothing to do” with the country’s judiciary, but the judiciary “continues to monitor behavioral actions at the community level.”

Montazeri’s remarks came in response to a question about why the morality police have been “closed down”.

Protests erupted in September following the death in custody of 22-year-old Mahsa Amini. She had been arrested by the morality police in Tehran for alleged non-compliance with Iran’s dress code.

The morality police have in recent months been absent from the streets of Tehran and other major cities.