Two Parliamentarians Criticize ‘Guidance Patrol’ Performance; Three Lawmakers Attack Protesters

Jalal Rashidi Kuchi, representative of Marvdasht in the Islamic Consultative Assembly, says the Guidance Patrol has resulted in nothing but “cost and harm,” has “damaged” the police, and that the Islamic Republic’s approach to women’s hijab is “contradictory.”

These remarks come after protests over the death of Mahsa Amini, a young woman from Saghez, have escalated following her being beaten by Guidance Patrol and police forces.

Mahsa Amini, a 22-year-old girl who had traveled to Tehran with her family to visit relatives, fell into a coma hours after being detained by the Guidance Patrol and transferred to the police morality security unit, and died on September 27 at Kasra Hospital.

Although eyewitnesses, her family, and hospital reports refute that the young woman died from natural causes, Iranian police claim she suffered “cardiac arrest,” and other officials have raised claims of “underlying diseases.”

On Tuesday, September 29, Jalal Rashidi Kuchi, contrary to other political officials and police who blamed “enemy exploitation” of Mahsa Amini’s death, stated that “the Guidance Patrol has resulted in nothing but cost and harm to the system, but the main issue is that some people are resisting the acceptance of truth.”

Stating that “the law enforcement force is being harmed by the Guidance Patrol,” he added: “Some of our friends are not willing to discuss their mistakes at all and insist they have done the right thing. Friends must accept that the Guidance Patrol was a mistake because it has resulted in nothing but loss and damage to the country.”

Rashidi Kuchi continued: “If a woman with improper hijab stands in a voting line, state television broadcasts it 20 times on voting day… After she votes and goes home, the next day the Guidance Patrol arrests the same woman. This is a paradox.”

This representative attributed citizens’ lack of trust in the Islamic Republic of Iran to the absence of “honesty and attempts at cover-up.”

Another report indicates that while Mahsa Amini’s death cast a shadow over Tuesday’s parliamentary session, out of five speakers, only Behzad Rahimi, representative of Saghez and Baneh, addressed the core issue of the Guidance Patrol’s violence in dealing with Ms. Amini.

Rahimi criticized the Guidance Patrol’s “coercive behaviors” in Iran and said the Guidance Patrol “has always been a source of stress for our women.”

This representative, calling for a “review” of the Guidance Patrol, stated that parliamentarians should “better understand society’s realities,” “listen to the people’s voice,” and “not disappoint society and people on the streets from ourselves.”

Anvar Habibzadeh Bokani, representative of Boukan, also said that “it is expected that reviewing the performance of the Guidance Patrol should be among the parliamentary priorities, and revision should be made in the working methods of the Guidance Patrol and commanding right and forbidding wrong.”

However, three other parliamentary speakers either “warned enemies to refrain from slander and defamation against this sacred system,” or attributed popular protests to “leaders of the 2009 movement,” or advised those following the Mahsa Amini death case to distance themselves from “counter-revolution.”

Mohammad Baqer Qalibaf, the parliament speaker, also accused political groups and foreign media of “inciting unrest and turmoil.”

He meanwhile promised that the parliament’s Interior Affairs Commission, while investigating Mahsa Amini’s case, “will review the implementation methods of moral security patrols by the General Police Command so that steps can be taken to resolve the existing problems in how it is executed.”

Following the announcement of Mahsa Amini’s death, popular protests have been held in various Iranian cities, with many women participating in these gatherings by removing their hijabs.

Despite harsh domestic and international criticism, the Islamic Republic’s response to these gatherings has been, as before, detention, beating, and shooting at protesters.

Source: Radio Farda