Iran is implementing new methods of enforcing the wearing of hijab in public. Several lawmakers have floated the move after the first attempts gained tremendous backlash.
In December, Hossein Jalali, a hardliner lawmaker and member of the cultural committee of Iran’s parliament, announced that the regime plans to inform women who do not wear hijab via SMS. “After notifying them, we enter the warning stage, and last, the bank account of the person who unveiled may be blocked,” the lawmaker added.
Iranian lawmaker and cleric Hossein Jalali has denied rumors about "abolishing the morality police", saying the Islamic Republic's crackdown on women not wearing proper hijab will continue with a range of measures that may include blocking their bank accounts. pic.twitter.com/VpAUv0Vy50
— Iran International English (@IranIntl_En) December 6, 2022
Ali Khan-Mohammadi, the spokesperson of Iran’s Headquarters For Enjoining Right And Forbidding Evil, also announced hijab laws will be implemented “in a more modern framework.”
The regime also attempted to mislead the Iranians and the international community by announcing that its Morality Police was being dismantled. Major news agencies carried articles hinting at the regime’s change of heart.
Masih Alinejad, a US-based Iranian-American journalist and activist, quickly dismissed the story calling it a disinformation campaign by the regime. Alinejad claimed that the announcement was one of the regime’s attempts at controlling the narrative away from the failed implementation of hijab laws.
The false news spread by @nytimes claiming victory for the so-called abolition of the morality police hurts the ongoing revolution.
I told @ABCNewsLive that when dictatorships like the Iranian regime are in trouble, they spread propaganda and obfuscation pic.twitter.com/xHXNMCSCEZ— Masih Alinejad (@AlinejadMasih) December 6, 2022
On Sunday, January 1, an unnamed police officer announced a new stage of surveillance that will enforce wearing hijab in public. The new surveillance is being “rolled out across the country,” the officer claimed.
The lawmaker claimed that the regime is making some decisions about hijab rules, but stressed that hijab enforcement will never be abolished in the Islamic Republic, ensuring that “veils will be back on women’s heads within two weeks.” https://t.co/Uoqv3Z4Tq9
— Iran International English (@IranIntl_En) December 6, 2022
The regime is also shifting the pressure of implementing the hijab law from women to the general public.
For the past week, Iranian authorities have been targeting establishments that serve women who are not wearing a hijab.
An Iranian news agency reported that five business establishments in Qazvin, a province in northwestern Iran, were shut down as “punishment for serving women who were not wearing hijabs.”
The move comes as more and more women are seen in public not wearing a hijab.
Ali Khan-Mohammadi defended the regime’s move and called for its support. Mohammad Jafar Montazeri, an Islamic prosecutor, also expressed support for the regime’s action claiming that women who do not wear a hijab are a “crime planned and promoted by enemies.”
