Published: Less than 10 min ago
On Sunday came the news that Iran is closing down its infamous morality police.
But according to the think tank ISW, the information is incorrect.
“The regime has not made such a concession”.
It was on Sunday that several international media, including the AFP news agency, reported that Iran is now shutting down the country’s morality police after months of protests.
The statement came a day after it was announced that the country will launch an investigation into the controversial hijab law, which was established in the early 1980s.
But according to the American think tank ISW, the Institute for the study of war, the statement about closing down the moral police has been misinterpreted.
In a newsletter on Sunday writes the think tank that the Western media have falsely reported that the Iranian regime has abolished its morality police.
“The regime has not made such a concession. Western media misinterpreted statements made by Attorney General Mohammad Javad Montazeri on December 3.”
Has not been abolished
Furthermore, it is written that Montazeri, in response to a journalist’s question, stated that the security forces have reduced the morality police in recent months – a statement which was then interpreted as confirmation that it had been abolished.
According to ISW, Iranian state media later clarified that Montazeri only acknowledged the reduction of the morale patrols, rather than announcing their disbandment.
No one else from the Iranian regime is said to have confirmed the shutdown either.
However, ISW writes that the regime could still offer limited concessions, such as a more permissive application of the veil, to quell the ongoing protests. An opinion on the today’s mandatory hijab law is expected to come no later than December 16.