(Tehran) Iranian police have resumed monitoring women wearing hijabs in cars more than 100 days after the detention of young Iranian woman Mahza Amini sparked unrest across the country, local media reported on Monday.
Iran has been in turmoil since the death of 22-year-old Mahza Amini on September 16 following her arrest for violating strict women’s dress codes.
“Police have launched a new phase of the Nasser-1 (Persian for “surveillance”) program across the country,” a “senior police officer” told Fars news agency.
The police texted the accused, “Regarding the absence of hijab in Nasser-1 cars,” he explained.
According to the agency, the message will read: “It was noticed that your car is not covered. We should respect the norms of the society and be careful not to repeat this act,” the veil will be lifted.
On the other hand, the threat in the first version of the message was, “Legal and judicial consequences if this action is repeated [vous] will be used”, deleted.
Project Nasser was launched by the police in 2020.
After the mobilization following Amini’s death, the morality police – who arrested the young woman in September – stopped arresting women walking the streets empty-handed and taking them to police stations.
In early December, Iranian Attorney General Mohammad Jafar Montazeri said the auxiliary force units, known as Kasht-e Ershad (“Orientation Patrol”), had been shut down.
But activists are skeptical of the statement, which appears to be a response to a question asked at a conference rather than a clear announcement from the Home Office.
