Iran to disband 'morality police,' says attorney general - DW (English)

Iran's attorney general has said that the country's "morality police​​​​​​" will beryllium disbanded, according to media reports connected Sunday. 

"Morality constabulary person thing to bash with the judiciary," Attorney General Mohammad Jafar Montazeri was quoted arsenic saying precocious Saturday by the ISNA quality agency. 

However, it is unclear whether the unit volition beryllium acceptable up again successful a antithetic discourse oregon nether a antithetic name. State quality agencies person reported that decease sentences and ineligible proceedings for "morality" offenses volition continue.

"Of course, the judiciary continues to show behavioral actions," Montazeri told a league Saturday outlining religion-based policy. 

Kamran Matin, a Senior Lecturer of International Relations astatine the University of Sussex, told DW that the announcement by the lawyer wide should beryllium taken with a level of caution.

Matin clarified that Iran's mortality constabulary is not portion of the judicial system, but is operated by so-called instrumentality enforcement forces oregon constabulary forces. 

"Such an announcement should truly beryllium announced by that instauration and that hasn't happened yet," Matin said.

Tehran nether pressure 

In September, 22-year-old Mahsa Amini died successful the custody of the morality police, aft having been arrested for not properly wearing a hijab headscarf, starring to months of anti-government protests. 

The authorities successful Tehran has been nether sizeable unit since Amini's death. 

On Saturday, Montazeri besides said authorities were reviewing the decades-old instrumentality requiring women deterioration headscarves to spot if it needed immoderate "changes." 

Who are the 'morality police'

The alleged morality constabulary are a portion of Iran's constabulary unit tasked with enforcing laws connected Islamic formal codes and different behaviour in public.

They began patrolling the streets successful 2006 after they were established by hardline president Mahmoud Ahmadinejad.

In accordance with Iranian law, women and post-pubescent girls indispensable deterioration caput coverings and escaped fitting covering successful public.

The morality constabulary person been accused of arbitrarily detaining women for transgressions.

kb/wmr (AFP, dpa)