Did Iran say it will shut the Guidance Patrol (Hijab police)?
No. Here is what happened:
In a press conference, someone asked top prosecutor, Jafar Montazeri, why was the Guidance Patrol not around anymore.
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Montazeri said the patrol wasn't the business of the judiciary but of the police so "they launched it and they shut it themselves." He quickly added that the Judiciary would still monitor "behavior in society"
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Iran's regime media have also been quick at work, clarifying the the issue and denying that Guidance Patrol has been shut.
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Still, there is some evidence that some inside the regime are debating whether to relax, change, re-package or do something to the Hijab laws although Khamenei is very unlikely to concede anything on this front
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Please note that as I said above, Montazeri DID say "they launched it and they shut it themselves" so this is why the world media has been quick to report that the GP has been "shut."
But this is at best a very unclear and inconclusive remark uttered in the middle of a presser
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(Although the Berlin Wall did also come down based on an official uttering some thing in the middle of a presser!)
State media has already tried to backtrack on this issue. We should wait and see
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#UPDATE
Jalal Rashidi Koochi, conservative MP and member of parliament's Domestic Affairs Committee, says: "I have heard that the Guidance Patrol will have no place in the new plan being prepared by the Supreme Council of Cultural Revolution."
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One more reason why "Morality Police is Disbanded/dissolved" headlines don't make sense is this: the Guidance Patrol (official name) is not a unit to be dissolved. It is a program run by the police, run on the basis of Council of Cultural Revolution directives.
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So it is a practice that can be discontinued but the police and Judiciary can still use many other ways to prosecute those not wearing Hijab
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Also note that Koochi, despite being an Osoolgera/Conservative, has long been an open and loud opponent of Guidance Patrol (morality police) as a practice while affirming that he supports the compulsory Hijab law.
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