Iran Abolishes Morality Police, Is Reconsidering Hijab Law, Attorney General Says

Iran has abolished its morality police, the country’s prosecutor general said according to state media, after more than two months of protests sparked by the death of a young woman in the organization’s custody. Mahsa Amini, 22, died in a Tehran hospital in September, three days after her arrest by the morality police for improperly wearing a hijab. Her death led to mass protests across the country, which the regime has struggled to contain despite brutal crackdowns. “Morality police have nothing to do with the judiciary” and have been abolished, Attorney General Mohammad Jafar Montazeri reputedly said, according to state media reports on Sunday. His announcement was reported a day after he reportedly said that Iranian authorities were discussing whether to change the decades-old law that requires women to cover their heads. Meanwhile, Iranian state media announced over the weekend that the family home of Elnaz Rekabi, the Iranian rock climber who competed in an international competition in October without her hijab, had been demolished. Rekabi said after the tournament that climbing without a head covering was accidental – though many believe it was coerced, but she was placed under house arrest upon her return to Tehran. It is not clear when the home was demolished, however.