Iran’s rattled government may be backing down

Unnerved by nearly three months of spreading protests, Iran’s theocratic regime seems to be dithering. In their first big concession since demonstrations erupted in September after the death of Mahsa Amini for not wearing a “proper” hijab, the clerics hinted that they are disbanding the morality police force in whose custody she died. It had been “shut down”, said the prosecutor-general, Muhammad Jaafar Montazeri, adding that unspecified “cultural” methods would be adopted instead. Come mid-December, he promised, a decision would be taken on whether to abolish the mandatory hijab altogether.