Iran regime ‘intransigent’ over mandatory hijab law
Iran’s judiciary-ordered police force has tightened enforcement of the mandatory hijab law and stepped up monitoring patrols in assembly areas, on main streets and squares, and in markets and malls, to punish any Iranian woman who does not comply with the hijab.
According to Iran’s Mehr news agency, Assistant Prosecutor General Abul Samad Khoramabadi confirmed that “under the direction of the Prosecutor General, the police have recently received an order to strictly punish anyone who violates the law on the wearing of the hijab in the country.”
He stressed that not wearing the hijab is an outright violation, calling on the security forces to stop any woman who commits the violation and to submit her to the judicial authorities so that they may receive the appropriate punishment.
He said the new directives call on courts to condemn all violations and impose a fine, with additional penalties such as deportation and bans on certain works, up to the point of closing the workplace.
Police recently launched campaigns that ended with the temporary closure of a number of cafes on the grounds that their young patrons do not abide by the headscarf. Police once again warned motorists about the consequences of women not wearing the strict dress code, including the hijab.
Iranian law requires women to wear the hijab, whether Iranian or foreign, but when protests broke out, many women rebelled against the law. They took to the streets naked, without being harassed or warned by the police.
Iran has been experiencing massive protests since mid-September, following the death of young Mahsa Amini, who had been suspended by morality police for not adhering to the Islamic Republic’s strict dress codes.
The Iranian authorities cracked down on the protests, which were marked by anti-regime slogans, did not shrink from the use of live bullets, and resorted to widespread arrests of some 14,000 people.
At least 448 people, including about 60 under the age of 18, and 29 women, were killed across the country by security forces during the crackdown on demonstrations, Iran-based Norwegian-based Human Rights Watch said.
