Tehran - (AFP) - Iranian Public Prosecutor Hojjat al-Islam Mohammad Jaafar Montazeri announced the abolition of the morality police by the relevant authorities, as reported by the Iranian Student News Agency (ISNA) on Sunday.

Montazeri said on Saturday evening in the Shiite holy city of Qom, "The morality police has nothing to do with the judiciary, and whoever established it abolished it."

During a religious conference, the Public Prosecutor was responding to a question he asked about the reason for "closing the morality police".

The morality police, known locally as "Kesht Arshad" (meaning the Guidance Patrols), were established during the era of the ultra-conservative former Iranian President Mohammad Ahmadinejad in order to "spread the culture of decent dress and veil."

It includes men in green suits and women in chadors.

This unit started its first patrols in 2006.