A member of Iran’s parliament has criticized the return of the morality police to the streets to enforce mandatory veiling laws, calling it a misguided policy.
As reported by the Jamaran news agency on Sunday, Jalil Rahimi Jahan-Abadi, a member of the National Security and Foreign Policy Commission of the parliament, called on officials to avoid “harmful, irrational, and insulting behaviors that can negatively impact the relationship between the government and the people.”
He said, “No one is willing to take responsibility for the morality police,” which, he added “indicates the flawed nature of this policy.”
Iran’s police chief last week said the morality police had a "well-intentioned" and "irreversible" mission.
They returned to the streets a week ago.
Their presence had largely ceased following nationwide anti-government protests sparked by last year's death of 22-year-old Mahsa Amini in police custody. Amini had been detained by the morality police for allegedly wearing her headscarf too loosely.
Although the street protests have subsided, many women in Iran have publicly opposed the mandatory hijab since Amini's death.
As the anniversary of Amini's death draws near, State Department spokesman Matthew Miller has conveyed his concern. During a press briefing last week in response to a question from VOA, he said renewed "compulsory hijab" enforcement indicates "the Islamic Republic has not taken heed of the recent protests."
In May, the U.N. High Commissioner for Human Rights called on Iran to decriminalize mandatory veiling laws, warning that the harassment of women, including what they do or do not wear, appears to have intensified as street protests have died down.
"Women and girls face increasingly stringent legal, social, and economic measures in the authorities' enforcement of discriminatory compulsory veiling laws," Volker Türk told reporters in Geneva. "I urge the government to heed Iranians' calls for reform, and to begin by repealing regulations that criminalize non-compliance with mandatory dress codes."
In April, Iran launched a new domestic surveillance program for enforcing its mandatory hijab law.
