Tehran police chief caught with 6 prostitutes

Reza Zarei, who was in charge of 'moralizing the city,' forced to step down after being caught nude in local brothel
Dudi Cohen

Tehran's police chief, Reza Zarei, has been arrested after he was found nude in a local brothel with six naked prostitutes, the Farda news website reported Wednesday.

Dress Code

Iranians protest Modesty Police actions / Dudi Cohen

Revolutionary Guard, police forces clash with Iranian citizens in Tehran after they try to arrest a young woman for supposedly breaking Islamic dress code rules

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Zarei stepped down from his post following the raid, the report said. According to another popular Iranian website, Gooya, the order to raid the brothel was given directly by Ayatollah Mahmoud Hashemi Shahroudi, chief of the judicial authorities.

Over the past year Zarei was in charge of enforcing the Islamic dress code on Iranian women with the purpose of "moralizing of the city."

It is alleged that in the past six months, hundreds of young people have been arrested in Iran for not respecting the Islamic code of behavior.

Rumors of the brothel incident had been spreading in Iran for the past two weeks, and last week Zarei was replaced after four years as chief of police in Tehran.

The arrest was not reported by any of Iran's official news agencies. Farda News, which broke the story, is a website said to be close to the mayor of Tehran and former chief of the police forces, Mohammed Bagher Qalibaf and is considered reliable.