Iran’s new president vows to ensure morality police don’t ‘bother’ women
Speaking on second anniversary of death of Mahsa Amini, Masoud Pezeshkian says controversial force ‘not supposed to confront’ women; also says Tehran does not want fight with US
TEHRAN, Iran — Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian vowed on Monday to ensure the morality police would no longer “bother” women, in remarks to the media on the second anniversary of Mahsa Amini’s death in custody.
Amini, a 22-year-old Iranian Kurd, died in police custody on September 16, 2022, days after the morality police arrested her in Tehran for an alleged breach of the Islamic Republic’s strict dress code for women.
Her death triggered months-long protests nationwide, with hundreds of people, including dozens of security personnel, killed. Thousands of demonstrators were arrested.
“The morality police were not supposed to confront [women]. I will follow up so they don’t bother” them, Pezeshkian said during his first press conference since he took office in July.
Pezeshkian replaced the ultra-conservative Ebrahim Raisi, who died in a helicopter crash in May.
During election campaigning, he had vowed to “fully” oppose police patrols enforcing the mandatory hijab headscarf, as well as easing long-standing internet restrictions.
Iran has over the years tightly controlled internet use, restricting popular social media platforms such as Facebook and X.
Harsher curbs were enforced following 2019 protests against fuel price hikes and during the demonstrations triggered by Amini’s death.
On Monday, Pezeshkian said his government was working to ease restrictions online, especially on social media.
At his press conference, Pezeshkian also briefly touched on other topics including Iran’s fraught relations with the United States and the 2015 nuclear deal.
“We do not want to fight with America if it respects our rights,” he said. “It is not [we] who are hostile [to the Americans]. We have not built military bases around their country.”
A landmark 2015 deal between Tehran and world powers granted Iran sanctions relief in return for curbs on its nuclear program, but the deal quickly collapsed and tensions reignited after the US withdrew in 2018 and reimposed sanctions on Iran, which suspended its compliance with caps on nuclear activities.
“We are not seeking nuclear weapons; we have respected the framework of the nuclear agreement,” Pezeshkian claimed. “They [the United States] broke the agreement and forced us to do something.”
