Islamic Revolution Committees
Islamic Revolution Committees | |
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کمیته انقلاب اسلامی | |
Mohammad Reza Mahdavi Kani | |
Insignia | |
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Islamic Revolution Committees or Committees of Islamic Revolution (Persian: کمیتههای انقلاب اسلامی, romanized: Komitehāye Enqelābe Eslāmi), simply known as the Committee (Persian: کمیته, romanized: Komīte; commonly referred to as Komiteh, pronounced koh-mee-TAY), was a revolutionary organization turned law enforcement agency in Iran. Founded in 1979, it was succeeded by the Guidance Patrol in 2005.[1]
History
Founded as one of Organizations of the Iranian Revolution in 1979, after the overthrow of the Shah they served as substitutes for some of the governmental institutions no longer functioning after the fall of the shah, "such as social services, security, and police".[2] Komiteh were "more widespread and active in cities than rural areas". They were often "located in captured police centers, in the houses of former government officials, and in some public places such as the parliament".[2]
As an arm of Ayatollah
During the Iran-Iraq War, the revolutionary committees also served on the war front.[2]
Following the crushing of opposition, the komiteh turned to "enforcing Islamic regulations on social behavior",[5] hunting down bad hejabi and enforcement of other measures, particularly among the secular middle class.[6] They made
certain that unmarried men and women do not hold hands or walk together on the sidewalk, that storekeepers display in their shops large, glossy photographs of the nation's senior Islamic clerics, that liquor is not served at private parties and that women keep their hair, arms and feet covered, preferably in the black robes called chadors.[5]
Made up of "mostly uneducated, undisciplined revolutionaries",[2] at least as of 1990 they were allegedly more "feared or detested" than any of the other post-revolutionary Iranian government agency.[5]
After the death of Khomeini and "during the
References
- ^ a b "Springtime In Iran Means The 'Morality Police' Are Out In Force". NPR. May 3, 2016.
- ^ a b c d e f "KOMITEH". Encyclopedia.com. Retrieved 6 April 2023.
- ^ a b Kepel, Gilles (2002). Jihad : The Trail of Political Islam. Translated by Anthony F. Roberts. Harvard University Press. pp. 113–114.
- ^ Kepel, Gilles (2002). Jihad : The Trail of Political Islam. Translated by Anthony F. Roberts. Harvard University Press. p. 115.
- ^ a b c "In Iran, a Glimpse of Ankle Can Bring Out the Komiteh". The New York Times. New York Times. 16 July 1990. Retrieved 6 April 2023.
- ^ Kepel, Gilles (2002). Jihad : The Trail of Political Islam. Translated by Anthony F. Roberts. Harvard University Press. p. 117.
- ^ Schirazi The Constitution of Iran (1997), p.152