Radio Liberty:

Promoting virtue and preventing vice proved to be the death of Ali Khalili, a young Iranian seminary student who eventually succumbed to injuries sustained when he tried to stop a group of men from harassing and kidnapping two women.

Now lawmakers are debating ways to protect citizens like Khalili who take it upon themselves to defend the values of the Islamic republic. But by giving citizens legal license to take Islamic law into their own hands, critics warn, Tehran could be institutionalizing violent acts such as the recent spate of acid attacks targeting women -- apparently because they were deemed to be in violation of Iran's strict Islamic dress code. 

"Remove the bill for the protection of those who propagate virtue and prevent vice from the parliament’s agenda," read a hand-written sign seen at a rally in Tehran. 

Some 250 Iranian rights activists, including Nobel Peace Prize winner Shirin Ebadi, have also made a connection between the bill and the acid attacks.

"Acid throwers in the streets and lawmakers who approved the bill for the protection of  propagators of virtue and preventers of vice are seeking to normalize violence against women in Iran," they said in a signed statement on October 30.

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