美国国家公共电台 NPR--What Iran has planned for its morality police

What Iran has planned for its morality police

Transcript¹

Is Iran taking steps to restrain its so-called morality police force? NPR's Rachel Martin talks with Nahid Siamdoust, assistant professor of Middle Eastern studies at UT Austin.

RACHEL MARTIN, HOST:

Protesters in Iran are calling for a three-day strike this week. This comes after nearly three months of protests over the death of a 22-year-old woman who was in the custody² of the country's so-called morality police. The status of that patrol unit is now unclear. An Iranian government official over the weekend created confusion about whether the unit has been suspended. Joining us now is Nahid Siamdoust. She's a assistant professor of Middle Eastern studies at UT Austin. Thank you so much for being with us.

NAHID SIAMDOUST: Thank you for having me.

MARTIN: Are we seeing any evidence on the ground that the morality police aren't operating anymore?

SIAMDOUST: Yes. In fact, since the death of Mahsa "Jina" Amini, people have not seen the morality police in action on the streets. And so the question that was posed to the secretary, the prosecutor³-general in the middle of a press conference was precisely⁴ because of that, because people have seen the morality police basically disappear from the streets. And so a reporter asked him, what is the status of the morality police? And the response in the statement that has been so widely publicized was in response to that in which he said, you know, the unit that established it at first has now disbanded it.

MARTIN: OK, so have more questions on that. But let's just take a second to define the morality police for those who don't know. I mean, this is a unit that goes around enforcing rules like what women should be wearing, right?

SIAMDOUST: That's right. So a few years into the revolution, 1983, the law on hijab was formalized. And starting from there, really in a more systematic⁵ way, these committees, these patrols started, you know, going around the streets and enforcing hijab rules. In 2005, that was systematized. And so the force was put under the auspices⁶ of the police. That was really supposed to represent a sort of reform where it was more systematically⁷ done than by, you know, vigilante groups or less centrally directed groups. And the ante was upped, really, with the election of President Ebrahim Raisi about a year ago, where he said, we will bring greater morality to the streets. And so women started experiencing greater arrests and, you know, harassment⁸ by the morality police on the streets.

MARTIN: But - so now we've got this top prosecutor saying that the morality police have been suspended. But it's my understanding that the Iranian government hasn't confirmed or denied that fact.

SIAMDOUST: That's right. I mean, this has been - you know, everybody knows - we know that the conversations have been taking place even before, you know, the killing⁹ of Mahsa "Jina" Amini. But for sure, since her killing and, you know, the revolutionary uprising that has started in Iran, they just haven't been on the streets, even though, of course, you know, security forces have gone around injuring and killing protesters. But the morality police as such, as a patrol, hasn't been on the streets. And so although the conversations have been around, there really hasn't been any kind of official statement about the status of the morality police. So if nothing else, it is the first time that we hear officially, publicly from, you know, the prosecutor-general, any official of the Islamic Republic about the disbandment of the morality police.

MARTIN: Why wouldn't the government want to publicize this?

SIAMDOUST: Well, it's not clear that they know what they're doing. And, you know, I just want to caution us against thinking that this - you know, because there have been many headlines telling us that it's gone, and perhaps this means freedom over hijab. Nobody knows. And I'm not sure that that means at all because it seems like they're trying to figure out what to do. And in the same press conference, the prosecutor-general also said, you know, the judiciary will still oversee¹⁰ people's behaviors on the streets. There have been other statements from, you know, MPs and other officials saying, we will go even harsher on the hijab. So it just seems like it's a moment when they're trying to figure out how to enforce the job and to what extent. But yeah.

MARTIN: So the - so we should just parse¹¹ that out. Disbanding the morality police would not necessarily mean at all that the laws around - that govern what women can wear would change. It also could mean that just another security unit would take over that particular task.

SIAMDOUST: That's right. That's exactly it. So we just have to pause and wait and see what happens for now. It is not clear what this - you know, it was also a spontaneous, you know, statement in the middle of a press conference. So this was not an official and intentional¹² sort of press conference just about the morality police. It sort of just came out. And now, you know, the cat is out. We know they're thinking about this, and they're trying to figure out what to do. Although previously¹³, we - you know, on the same day that the statement came out, a group of reformists met with a member of the Supreme¹⁴ Council for National Security who's in charge of making policies about the morality police. And the - you know, the group of reformers pushed for disbanding the, you know, laws over hijab in general. And they did not receive a positive response. So it's just all being negotiated at the moment.

MARTIN: But as you point out, it's no longer sufficient for protesters to even see the disbandment of the morality police. It's structural¹⁵ for them. They want the laws overturned completely at this point.

SIAMDOUST: That's right. You know, the protesters were never really asking for concessions¹⁶. We don't really hear that in the slogans, right? They want a wholesale¹⁷ change of this regime. And so that is not - you know, this would not be enough by any stretch of the imagination. And so these protests will be ongoing¹⁸.

MARTIN: Nahid Siamdoust, assistant professor of Middle Eastern studies at UT Austin, thanks so much for your perspective this morning. We appreciate it.

SIAMDOUST: Thank you very much for having me.

1 transcript   

n.抄本，誊本，副本，肄业证书

参考例句：

• A transcript of the tapes was presented as evidence in court.一份录音带的文字本作为证据被呈交法庭。
• They wouldn't let me have a transcript of the interview.他们拒绝给我一份采访的文字整理稿。

2 custody   

n.监护，照看，羁押，拘留

参考例句：

• He spent a week in custody on remand awaiting sentence.等候判决期间他被还押候审一个星期。
• He was taken into custody immediately after the robbery.抢劫案发生后，他立即被押了起来。

3 prosecutor   

n.起诉人；检察官，公诉人

参考例句：

• The defender argued down the prosecutor at the court.辩护人在法庭上驳倒了起诉人。
• The prosecutor would tear your testimony to pieces.检查官会把你的证言驳得体无完肤。

4 precisely   

adv.恰好，正好，精确地，细致地

参考例句：

• It's precisely that sort of slick sales-talk that I mistrust.我不相信的正是那种油腔滑调的推销宣传。
• The man adjusted very precisely.那个人调得很准。

5 systematic   

adj.有系统的，有计划的，有方法的

参考例句：

• The way he works isn't very systematic.他的工作不是很有条理。
• The teacher made a systematic work of teaching.这个教师进行系统的教学工作。

6 auspices   

n.资助，赞助

参考例句：

• The association is under the auspices of Word Bank.这个组织是在世界银行的赞助下办的。
• The examination was held under the auspices of the government.这次考试是由政府主办的。

7 systematically   

adv.有系统地

参考例句：

• This government has systematically run down public services since it took office.这一屆政府自上台以来系统地削减了公共服务。
• The rainforest is being systematically destroyed.雨林正被系统地毀灭。

8 harassment   

n.骚扰，扰乱，烦恼，烦乱

参考例句：

• She often got telephone harassment at night these days.这些天她经常在夜晚受到电话骚扰。
• The company prohibits any form of harassment.公司禁止任何形式的骚扰行为。

9 killing   

n.巨额利润；突然赚大钱，发大财

参考例句：

• Investors are set to make a killing from the sell-off.投资者准备清仓以便大赚一笔。
• Last week my brother made a killing on Wall Street.上个周我兄弟在华尔街赚了一大笔。

10 oversee   

vt.监督，管理

参考例句：

• Soldiers oversee the food handouts.士兵们看管着救济食品。
• Use a surveyor or architect to oversee and inspect the different stages of the work.请一位房产检视员或建筑师来监督并检查不同阶段的工作。

11 parse   

v.从语法上分析；n.从语法上分析

参考例句：

• I simply couldn't parse what you just said.我完全无法对你刚说的话作语法分析。
• It causes the parser to parse an NP.它调用分析程序分析一个名词短语。

12 intentional   

adj.故意的，有意（识）的

参考例句：

• Let me assure you that it was not intentional.我向你保证那不是故意的。
• His insult was intentional.他的侮辱是有意的。

13 previously   

adv.以前，先前（地）

参考例句：

• The bicycle tyre blew out at a previously damaged point.自行车胎在以前损坏过的地方又爆开了。
• Let me digress for a moment and explain what had happened previously.让我岔开一会儿，解释原先发生了什么。

14 supreme   

adj.极度的，最重要的；至高的，最高的

参考例句：

• It was the supreme moment in his life.那是他一生中最重要的时刻。
• He handed up the indictment to the supreme court.他把起诉书送交最高法院。

15 structural   

adj.构造的，组织的，建筑（用）的

参考例句：

• The storm caused no structural damage.风暴没有造成建筑结构方面的破坏。
• The North American continent is made up of three great structural entities.北美大陆是由三个构造单元组成的。

16 concessions   

n.（尤指由政府或雇主给予的）特许权( concession的名词复数 )；承认；减价；（在某地的）特许经营权

参考例句：

• The firm will be forced to make concessions if it wants to avoid a strike. 要想避免罢工，公司将不得不作出一些让步。
• The concessions did little to placate the students. 让步根本未能平息学生的愤怒。

17 wholesale   

n.批发；adv.以批发方式；vt.批发，成批出售

参考例句：

• The retail dealer buys at wholesale and sells at retail.零售商批发购进货物，以零售价卖出。
• Such shoes usually wholesale for much less.这种鞋批发出售通常要便宜得多。

18 ongoing   

adj.进行中的，前进的

参考例句：

• The problem is ongoing.这个问题尚未解决。
• The issues raised in the report relate directly to Age Concern's ongoing work in this area.报告中提出的问题与“关心老人”组织在这方面正在做的工作有直接的关系。