Women hold signs and chant slogans during a protest.Photo: Chris McGrath/Getty

Women hold signs and chant slogans during a protest over the death of Iranian Mahsa Amini outside the Iranian Consulate on September 29, 2022 in Istanbul, Turkey. Mahsa Amini fell into a coma and died after being arrested in Tehran by the morality police, for allegedly violating the countries hijab rules. Amini’s death has sparked weeks of violent protests across Iran.

Less than one year after protests broke out when 22-year-old Iranian womanMahsa Aminidied in custody for allegedly wearing a hijab too loosely, Iran’s Morality Police is resuming its controversial headscarf patrols, theBBCreports.

The U.S. State Department has described Iran’s Morality Police as an organization that “arrests women for wearing ‘inappropriate’ hijab and enforces other restrictions on freedom of expression.”

According to the BBC, it will begin patrolling the streets again to enforce that women adhere to a specific dress code under Iranian law, which requires women to cover their hair with a hijab (headscarf) and wear long and loose clothing that hides the shape of their bodies.

Women hold signs and chant slogans during a protest.Alain Pitton/NurPhoto via Getty

A young girl waves the Iranian flag. Iranians of Toulouse organized a protest in Toulouse in solidarity with women and protesters in Iran, following the death of the young Iranian woman, Mahsa Amini, who died after being arrested by the Islamic republic’s ‘morality police’. Several hundreds of people participated to the protest. Police have said Amini fell ill as she waited with other women held by the morality police, who enforce strict rules in the Islamic republic requiring women to cover their hair and wear loose-fitting clothes in public. Since the death of Mahsa Amini, many protest took place in Iran, the NGO Iran Human Rights says that many protesters have been killed. The death of Mahsa Amini sparked protests worldwide. Toulouse. France. December 3rd 2022.

The move to resume the patrols comes despite recent protests against it — which began in response to the death of Amini — who last year was arrested and taken into police custody after allegedly wearing her hijab too loosely. Hours later, she was transferred to a hospital in a coma, and she died two days later.

U.S. Ambassador to the United NationsLinda Thomas-Greenfieldtold PEOPLE in an earlier interview that Iranian police claimed Amini suffered from a heart condition. Her family has disputed that assessment, though, saying she had no heart ailment and that bruises seen on her body indicated she had been tortured.

Amini’s death sparked mass protests throughout Iran, with protesters facing violence and even death themselves.

Hundreds have been killed and thousands detained during the protests, with the Iranian government pausing its morality police patrols while reportedly looking to reassert its force in public life.

As one means of protest, many women have stopped wearing hijabs altogether — meanwhile the Iranian government and law enforcement have installed security cameras in an effort to crack down on those who disobey.

People gather in protest against the death of Mahsa Amini.Getty

People gather in protest against the death of Mahsa Amini along the streets on September 19, 2022 in Tehran, Iran. 22-year-old Mahsa Amini fell into a coma and died after being arrested in Tehran by the morality police, for allegedly violating the countries hijab rules. Amini’s death has sparked days of violent protests across Iran, which has so far seen more the five people killed.

The BBC reports that Iranian police spokesman Saeed Montazerolmahdi confirmed on Sunday that patrols had resumed and were meant to “deal with those who, unfortunately, ignore the consequences of not wearing the proper hijab and insist on disobeying the norms.”

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In addition to those who have been killed during the protests, Iran has alsoexecuted some protestersfollowing what Amnesty International has called “a grossly unfair trial that bore no resemblance to meaningful judicial proceedings.”

source: people.com