Iran is trying to reintroduce a strict dress code for women after anti-hijab protests

Iran is seeking to reintroduce a strict dress code months after a wave of unrest following the death of a young woman who had been detained by the morality police saw women and girls remove their headscarves in protest.

The moves come as the government tries to reassert control after months of sometimes violent nationwide demonstrations posing the biggest challenge to the clerical establishment since the 1979 Islamic Revolution, which overthrew the US-backed monarchy.

Over the weekend, thousands of text messages were sent to business owners and drivers, alerting them to the new crackdown on women not wearing the headscarf, a head covering worn by some Muslim women, according to Iranian state broadcaster IRIB News.

Officials also announced that people who encourage women to take off their headscarves will be prosecuted.

The crime of promoting disclosure will be handled in a criminal court whose decision is final and cannot be contested, Deputy Attorney General Ali Jamadi said Saturday, according to the semi-official Mehr News Agency.

The commander-in-chief of Iran’s police forces, Ahmad-Reza Radan, recently announced a series of procedures that took effect on Saturday.

Shops where female employees do not wear head coverings will receive an advance warning, and may be closed if employees do not comply, he added.

Following the death of Mahsa Amini, a 22-year-old Iranian Kurdish, in a hospital on September 16 after being detained for allegedly violating a law governing dress, the headscarf became an official symbol of repression, with women and girls daring to remove their headscarves. in public.

The riots have been largely quelled by force and mass arrests, and the government has spent months establishing a renewed emphasis on women’s dress codes.

Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi underlined the importance of the dress code, particularly the headscarf, in his recent speech in Tehran.

Headscarf is a religious necessity he said, according to a video posted on Twitter by the government’s public affairs office.

Today, the hijab issue is a legal matter, and all members of our society must adhere to the headscarf, as has always been done, Raisi said at an April 1 event.

A new emphasis on the headscarf was announced April 8, with implementation starting over the weekend.

The plan drew criticism from some Iranian women.

This harsh and harsh response is bound to make things worse or it will lead nowhere, Parinaz Mobarhan, a resident of Tehran, told the West Asia News Agency in a video distributed by Reuters.

The hijab is a voluntary matter, said another resident, Nasiri, who only gave one name. The person himself must decide whether they want to wear this scarf around them or not. I think forcing this will produce the opposite result.

The headscarf has been compulsory for all women in Iran since the early 1980s. Among the most obvious rules governing residents’ behavior are those based on conservative stance interpretations of the Islamic dress code.

Morteza Aghatehrani, a hardline Iranian lawmaker, said that the headscarf was ordained by God, and it is an old law that needs to be revised.

Parliament, the government and the judiciary are currently discussing this, he told NBC News, adding that it needed serious changes for it to take effect.

Rima Abdelkader contribute.