Iranian app helps young teens dodge morality police

Gershad app for Android devices maps out patrol locations so users can avoid them

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(Image credit: ATTA KENARE/AFP/Getty Images)

Developers have released an app intended to help fashion conscious Iranians dodge the country's morality police.

The Ershad, which means "guidance" in Farsi, are charged with enforcing rules such as Islamic dress code and have checkpoints in towns and cities across Iran, at which they often appear at random times and places. They have a "very extensive list of powers", according to the BBC, including forcing those found in breach of their code of conduct to pledge in writing never to do so again, fines and even prosecutions.

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