Iran’s top prosecutor says authorities have suspended the nation’s morality police and have placed Iran’s mandatory hijab law under review. The claims by Iran’s attorney general have not been verified, and it’s not clear whether authorities would seek to enforce Iran’s strict dress code in other ways. This follows more than 11 weeks of nationwide protests sparked by the death in police custody of Mahsa Amini, a 22-year-old Kurdish woman who was arrested for allegedly violating laws requiring women to cover their hair and wear loose-fitting clothing.
Also on Saturday, Iran’s Interior Ministry provided its first death toll since the protests erupted, claiming more than 200 people have been killed in what it called “riots.” That’s about half of the deaths documented by the group Iran Human Rights, which reports at least 448 people, including 60 children, have been killed by Iran’s security forces since September.
Meanwhile, Iranian authorities have reportedly destroyed the family home of Elnaz Rekabi, a 33-year-old rock climber who drew international headlines in October when she joined a competition in South Korea without wearing a headscarf.