DUBAI, United Arab Emirates — Iranian authorities on Sunday introduced a brand new marketing campaign to drive girls to put on the Islamic scarf and morality police returned to the streets 10 months after the demise of a girl of their custody sparked nationwide protests.
The morality police had largely pulled again following the demise of 22-year-old Mahsa Amini final September, as authorities struggled to comprise mass protests calling for the overthrow of the theocracy that has dominated Iran for over 4 a long time.
The protests largely died down earlier this yr following a heavy crackdown by which over 500 protesters had been killed and practically 20,000 detained. But many ladies continued to flaunt the official gown code, particularly within the capital, Tehran, and different cities.
The morality police had been solely hardly ever seen patrolling the streets, and in December, there have been even some experiences – later denied – that they’d been disbanded.
Authorities insisted all through the disaster that the principles had not modified. Iran‘s clerical rulers view the hijab as a key pillar of the Islamic revolution that introduced them to energy, and contemplate extra informal gown an indication of Western decadence.
On Sunday, Gen. Saeed Montazerolmahdi, a police spokesman, stated the morality police would resume notifying after which detaining girls not sporting hijab in public. In Tehran, the women and men of the morality police might be seen patrolling the streets in marked vans.
Late Saturday, police arrested Mohammed Sadeghi, a younger and comparatively unknown actor, in a raid on his dwelling that he seems to have broadcast on social media. Earlier, he had posted a video in response to a different on-line video displaying a girl being detained by the morality police. “Believe me, if I see such a scene, I might commit murder,” he stated.
The web site of the semi-official Hamshahri each day, which is affiliated with the Tehran municipality, stated he was arrested for encouraging individuals to make use of weapons towards the police.
The battle over the hijab grew to become a robust rallying cry final fall, with girls taking part in a number one function within the protests. The demonstrations shortly escalated into requires the overthrow of Iran‘s clerical rulers, whom the principally younger protesters accuse of being corrupt, repressive and out of contact. Iran‘s authorities blamed the protests on a overseas conspiracy, with out offering proof.
Several Iranian celebrities joined the protests, together with outstanding administrators and actors from the nation’s celebrated movie trade. Several Iranian actresses had been detained after showing in public with out the hijab or expressing assist for the protests.
In a latest case, actress Azadeh Samadi was barred from social media and ordered by a courtroom to hunt psychological remedy for “antisocial personality disorder” after showing at a funeral two months in the past sporting a cap on her head.
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