Iran’s head of the controversial morality police has reportedly been suspended after five people were killed amid an intensified protest over the death of Mahsa Amini.
Col Ahmed Mirzaei, the head of the moral security police of Greater Tehran, had been suspended after the death of a 22-year-old Kurdish woman who was detained by the police after being accused of not wearing the hijab properly.
Details of the incident
Police said she had a heart attack and fell on her own but her father has insisted she had no health problems. The family also alleged she sustained injuries while in the custody of the morality police, hinting she was physically assaulted.
A CT scan of Amini’s head showed a bone fracture, hemorrhage, and brain edema, seemingly confirming that a strike to the head killed her. If confirmed, the reports will prove to be a huge setback for the morality police and also the wider Tehran police force.
Morality police units enforce a dress code in the Islamic Republic of Iran
Morality police units enforce a dress code that demands women wear headscarves in public and bans tight clothing or those which show skin. Such rules have been in effect in Iran since the 1979 Islamic revolution.
The Guardian quoted Iranian news outlets as saying, “Col Ahmed Mirzaei, the head of the moral security police of Greater Tehran, had been suspended from his role.”
President Ebrahim Raisi spoke to Amini’s family by phone on Sunday. “Your daughter is like my own daughter, and I feel that this incident happened to one of my loved ones. Please accept my condolences,” state media reported him as saying. Since his election last year, Raisi has tightened enforcement of the headscarf law.
International concerns
Amini’s death has also drawn international ire with France and the US demanding accountability from the Iranian government. A spokesperson for the European Union’s foreign policy chief Josep Borrell said Amini’s “unacceptable” death was a “killing”.Rights groups, including Amnesty, have demanded a criminal investigation into “circumstances leading to the suspicious death” of Amini.
