Dubai: It seems like every afternoon IranIn the capital, police cars cruise Tehran’s main squares and intersections looking for women wearing loose hats and those who dare not wear them. The new crackdown comes nearly two years after massive protests over Mahsa’s death. Amini She was taken into custody because she was not wearing a scarf as per the officers’ preference.A UN panel has found that the 22-year-old died as a result of “physical violence” inflicted on her by the state.
Amini’s death was followed by months of unrest, culminating in bloody repression and the disappearance of the morality police from the streets for a time.
But now videos have emerged of police forcing women into vans, as lawmakers press for harsher penalties. Meanwhile, authorities have seized thousands of cars for women with uncovered hair, as well as targeted businesses that cater to them.
The renewed hijab-wearing drive, which police are calling the Nour or “light” plan, began before President Ebrahim Raisi died in a helicopter crash, and whoever wins Friday’s vote to replace the hardline cleric will have an impact on how intense it becomes and how Iran reacts to any further unrest.
“Interventions under the Nour plan will lead us into darkness,” reformist presidential candidate Masoud Pezeshkian recently told a group of women supporters.
Enforcement began to intensify in April, and videos began circulating online showing women in violent confrontations with uniformed police officers and female enforcers clad in black chadors.
Although the police have not published the number of arrests in the crackdown and the media has not paid much attention to it, it has been a hot topic in Iran. Still, many women wear their hijab loosely or draped over their shoulders when walking in Tehran.
One recent afternoon in northern Tehran, women sat in cafes and other public places while a police officer in his 50s told passersby: “Women, please cover yourselves,” and then muttered in a high voice: “Oh God, I’m fed up of repeating this without anyone paying attention.”
“We know the police are not keen to fight women, but they are under pressure,” said Fatima, a 34-year-old math teacher who gave only her first name for fear of retribution. “Sooner or later, the officers will realize that backing off would be better for their interests.”
Iran and neighbors Taliban controlled Afghanistan These are the only countries where the hijab is compulsory, even conservative Saudi Arabia has withdrawn its morality patrols. While women in Iran go to school, work and can manage their own lives, hardliners insist that the hijab be made compulsory.
The garment has long been associated with Iranian politics. Former ruler Reza Shah Pahlavi banned it in 1936, part of his efforts to imitate the West. The ban only lasted five years, but many middle and upper class Iranian women decided not to wear it.
After 1979 islamic revolutionSome of the women who helped overthrow the Shah wore the even more conservative chador. But others opposed Grand Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini’s decision to order women to wear the hijab in public places. In 1983, this became law, enforcing penalties including fines and up to two months in prison.
Amini’s death in September 2022 sparked months of protests and a crackdown by security forces that killed more than 500 people and detained more than 22,000. But less than two years later, hardliners within Iran’s theocracy have stepped up the crackdown.
The government’s insistence on making the hijab compulsory also reflects its conspiratorial attitude towards the world. Iran’s national police chief General Ahmad Reza Radan has alleged without providing evidence that the country’s enemies are planning to change the country’s culture by encouraging women to avoid the veil.
“Thousands of women have had their cars arbitrarily confiscated for violating Iran’s burqa law,” Amnesty International said in March. “Other women have been prosecuted and sentenced to flogging or prison, or face other punishments such as fines or being forced to attend ‘morality’ classes.”
On Saturday, police said they would release around 8,000 vehicles seized because of women not wearing hijab on the occasion of Eid-ul-Ghadir, celebrated by the Shia community.
Apart from this, efforts are also being made to close those businesses which provide services to women who do not wear hijab.
“The Islamic Republic is doing this to divert attention presidential election“Iran continues to silence its female activists through attacks, imprisonment and abuse,” said Hadi Ghaemi, executive director of the New York-based Iran Center for Human Rights. The center said at least 12 female activists have been sentenced to prison for their work since Raisi’s death.
But there are signs that Iran’s government and 85-year-old Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei know there are risks in enforcing the law. A bill passed by Iran’s parliament that could impose up to 10 years in prison for hijab violations has not yet been approved by the country’s Guardian Council, a panel of clerics and jurists ultimately overseen by Khamenei.
Of the presidential candidates, only Pezeshkian has so far criticised the hijab law. Others, including current parliament speaker Mohammad Bagher Qalibaf, have called for a softer enforcement of the law. Shia cleric candidate Mostafa Pourmohammadi criticised the use of violence against women, saying police should use the “language of trust and gratitude” instead of batons.
Meanwhile, imprisoned Nobel Peace Prize laureate and prominent women’s rights activist Narges Mohammadi has called from prison for a boycott of the presidential election, saying it only “supports a government that believes in repression, terror and violence.”
Recently, during Friday prayers in Tehran, women attended, as usual, wearing chador.
“Every woman must cover herself with a veil, this is Allah’s order,” said Masoumeh Ahmadi, a 49-year-old housewife.
But there can be differences of opinion even among religious people.
“Yes, it is God’s command, but as far as I know, it is not mandatory for all women,” said Ahmadi’s friend, Zahra Kashani, 37.
Amini’s death was followed by months of unrest, culminating in bloody repression and the disappearance of the morality police from the streets for a time.
But now videos have emerged of police forcing women into vans, as lawmakers press for harsher penalties. Meanwhile, authorities have seized thousands of cars for women with uncovered hair, as well as targeted businesses that cater to them.
The renewed hijab-wearing drive, which police are calling the Nour or “light” plan, began before President Ebrahim Raisi died in a helicopter crash, and whoever wins Friday’s vote to replace the hardline cleric will have an impact on how intense it becomes and how Iran reacts to any further unrest.
“Interventions under the Nour plan will lead us into darkness,” reformist presidential candidate Masoud Pezeshkian recently told a group of women supporters.
Enforcement began to intensify in April, and videos began circulating online showing women in violent confrontations with uniformed police officers and female enforcers clad in black chadors.
Although the police have not published the number of arrests in the crackdown and the media has not paid much attention to it, it has been a hot topic in Iran. Still, many women wear their hijab loosely or draped over their shoulders when walking in Tehran.
One recent afternoon in northern Tehran, women sat in cafes and other public places while a police officer in his 50s told passersby: “Women, please cover yourselves,” and then muttered in a high voice: “Oh God, I’m fed up of repeating this without anyone paying attention.”
“We know the police are not keen to fight women, but they are under pressure,” said Fatima, a 34-year-old math teacher who gave only her first name for fear of retribution. “Sooner or later, the officers will realize that backing off would be better for their interests.”
Iran and neighbors Taliban controlled Afghanistan These are the only countries where the hijab is compulsory, even conservative Saudi Arabia has withdrawn its morality patrols. While women in Iran go to school, work and can manage their own lives, hardliners insist that the hijab be made compulsory.
The garment has long been associated with Iranian politics. Former ruler Reza Shah Pahlavi banned it in 1936, part of his efforts to imitate the West. The ban only lasted five years, but many middle and upper class Iranian women decided not to wear it.
After 1979 islamic revolutionSome of the women who helped overthrow the Shah wore the even more conservative chador. But others opposed Grand Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini’s decision to order women to wear the hijab in public places. In 1983, this became law, enforcing penalties including fines and up to two months in prison.
Amini’s death in September 2022 sparked months of protests and a crackdown by security forces that killed more than 500 people and detained more than 22,000. But less than two years later, hardliners within Iran’s theocracy have stepped up the crackdown.
The government’s insistence on making the hijab compulsory also reflects its conspiratorial attitude towards the world. Iran’s national police chief General Ahmad Reza Radan has alleged without providing evidence that the country’s enemies are planning to change the country’s culture by encouraging women to avoid the veil.
“Thousands of women have had their cars arbitrarily confiscated for violating Iran’s burqa law,” Amnesty International said in March. “Other women have been prosecuted and sentenced to flogging or prison, or face other punishments such as fines or being forced to attend ‘morality’ classes.”
On Saturday, police said they would release around 8,000 vehicles seized because of women not wearing hijab on the occasion of Eid-ul-Ghadir, celebrated by the Shia community.
Apart from this, efforts are also being made to close those businesses which provide services to women who do not wear hijab.
“The Islamic Republic is doing this to divert attention presidential election“Iran continues to silence its female activists through attacks, imprisonment and abuse,” said Hadi Ghaemi, executive director of the New York-based Iran Center for Human Rights. The center said at least 12 female activists have been sentenced to prison for their work since Raisi’s death.
But there are signs that Iran’s government and 85-year-old Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei know there are risks in enforcing the law. A bill passed by Iran’s parliament that could impose up to 10 years in prison for hijab violations has not yet been approved by the country’s Guardian Council, a panel of clerics and jurists ultimately overseen by Khamenei.
Of the presidential candidates, only Pezeshkian has so far criticised the hijab law. Others, including current parliament speaker Mohammad Bagher Qalibaf, have called for a softer enforcement of the law. Shia cleric candidate Mostafa Pourmohammadi criticised the use of violence against women, saying police should use the “language of trust and gratitude” instead of batons.
Meanwhile, imprisoned Nobel Peace Prize laureate and prominent women’s rights activist Narges Mohammadi has called from prison for a boycott of the presidential election, saying it only “supports a government that believes in repression, terror and violence.”
Recently, during Friday prayers in Tehran, women attended, as usual, wearing chador.
“Every woman must cover herself with a veil, this is Allah’s order,” said Masoumeh Ahmadi, a 49-year-old housewife.
But there can be differences of opinion even among religious people.
“Yes, it is God’s command, but as far as I know, it is not mandatory for all women,” said Ahmadi’s friend, Zahra Kashani, 37.
