Iran International
Iran’s hardliner President has ordered all government entities to strictly implement a “chastity and hijab” law after weeks of harsher measures on the streets.
In a meeting with officials on Wednesday Raisi called lack of compliance with hijab rules “an organized promotion of [moral] corruption in Islamic society.” Going a step further he said that this has been organized “by world arrogance”, a reference to the United States.
Harsher than usual enforcement of the Islamic dress code (hijab) this summer has raised protests from many in Iran including some moderate religious and political figures.
Raisi went on to put a further ideological spin on the issue: “The enemies of Iran and Islam using extensive satellite TV and social media networks have targeted society’s cultural backbone and foundations of its religious values.”
There is little evidence of any foreign conspiracy, except some Iranian activists in the West campaigning against compulsory hijab. One such activist in the United States was even reportedly targeted for kidnapping by Islamic Republic agents.
Street patrols by ‘hijab police’ or ‘chastity police’ have intensified in recent weeks with women with loose headscarves being subjected not only to verbal harassment but also physical force.
Some Iranian officials have recently issued strict orders for enforcing what they call proper hijab among female government employees and others by restricting service to those who do not abide by the prescribed rules.
The hijab required in the Islamic Republic consists of a long and loose dress in muted colors worn over trousers with a similarly plain headscarf that covers all hair and shoulders. Authorities including Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei say wearing a long black veil (chador in Persian) that covers from head to toe is the ‘optimal hijab’.
The headscarf version is acceptable in most places while the chador is a requirement in many government offices, higher education facilities, and meetings with high-ranking officials including Khamenei.
While most Iranian women wear the headscarf version of hijab, willingly or unwillingly, only a small minority willingly wear the chador.
In the jargon of religious and political hardliners women who are unwilling to wear the hijab and display their displeasure by wearing small and colorful headscarves with tight-fitting, short dresses are called ‘bad-hijab’ ones. Authorities sometimes take harsh measures against ‘bad-hijab’ women. Punishments include arrest, prison, cash fines, and even lashing but have not always been meted out to the same degree.
Esmail Rahmani, deputy public prosecutor of the religious city of Mashhad has recently ordered the municipality to prevent ‘bad-hijab’ women from using public transportation including the metro and threatened to take legal action against such officials for failing to do so. He has also ordered the governor to ban services in banks and government offices to ‘bad-hijab’ women.
The governor of Fars Province, Mohammad-Hadi Imanieh, has also issued an ultimatum to heads of government organizations to enforce the acceptable forms of hijab. Imanieh has said that government employees who are not willing to abide by the rules should take leave without pay and only return to work “when they can respect the law”.
Mohsen Borhani, a professor of law at Tehran University with a religious seminary education background, in a tweet Monday protested against enforcing the hijab through restricting service to ‘bad-hijab’ women. According to Iran’s own Islamic Penal Code, he argued restricting personal freedoms of citizens by any official of the government or state is punishable by law, he argued.
Sometimes authorities shift the burden of enforcement of hijab to businesses, such as food joints and cafes and shopping malls, to deny service to ‘bad-hijab’ women and shut down their businesses if they do not comply. This year pressure has increased on businesses.
Most Iranians, whether they are religious or not, do not agree with compulsory hijab while many view its enforcement by the state as a violation of human rights.
Mohammad-Ali Abtahi, a cleric who served as vice president under reformist Mohammad Khatami, called the crackdown for hijab “an insult to Iranian women and an insult to all of Iran” in a commentary carried by conservative Khabar Online news website Monday.
Answering a question by Iran International’s correspondent Samira Gharaei and another reporter at the Tuesday briefing about when the US would conclude that there is no hope for success in the nuclear negotiations, State Department spokesman Ned Price said, "The reason it's impossible to put a timeframe is it isn't based on a political decision, but on a technical assessment of Iran's nuclear program versus non-proliferation benefits of the JCPOA."
US officials have said Iran already has accumulated enough enriched uranium to produce a bomb and critics wonder when the current situation would reach a point for the United States and its allies to walk away for the talks and adopt a different approach. The administration in January had said that the last chance for Iran was sometime at the end of February, and then negotiations broke down in March.
About US Special Envoy for Iran Robert Malley’s remarks earlier in the day on US waiting for an answer from Tehran, he said, “The answer that not only the US is waiting for, but also that our European allies are waiting for is a decision on the part of the Iranian government to fully return to compliance with the JCPOA.”
“It is not clear to us, based on what we have heard from the Iranians indirectly; from our European allies; that they have made that political commitment. There has been a deal on the table that is more or less finalized for several months now,” he added.
Price said, “In recent weeks and recent months, rather than make that political commitment to return to compliance with the JCPOA, Iran has consistently introduced extraneous demands that go beyond the four walls of the JCPOA.” “To introduce anything that goes beyond the narrow confines of the JCPOA suggests a lack of seriousness, a lack of commitment.”
He highlighted, “We are at a point where a lack of forward momentum, a lack of progress is tantamount to backtracking,” adding that "Current assessment of experts and intelligence community is that the Iran agreement on the table right now is far preferable to where we are now.”
The US has said that that the West made an offer to Iran in December after nine months of talks in Vienna and the ball is in Tehran’s court.
Malley told National Public Radio Tuesday that last week’s Qatar talks between Tehran and Washington had been a waste of time.
Malley said the European Union – whose leading official Enrique Mora acted as a go-between in Qatar – had “put on the table very detailed outlines of what they think a fair outcome would be, and we’ve said we’re prepared to take that deal; the party that has not said yes is Iran.”
Iran’s Hostage Taking Policy
In response to a question about Belgium's controversial treaty on the exchange of convicts with Iran and whether the US is pursuing a different path to handle the Islamic Republic’s hostage policy, Price said the US has a near term goal when it comes to its citizens detained in Iran as well as a long-term goal.
“Our near-term goal is to see to it that those who are at the present moment held unjustly and wrongfully... are released.” The longer-term goal, he said, “is to create and reinforce a norm against this horrific practice; to see to it that the international community speaks with one voice and acts together.” He added that the US is working with allies to lay the ground to achieve this.
Price went on to say the US is monitoring several “egregious cases of Europeans and dual citizens” held in Iran such as Swedish-Iranian academic Ahmadreza Djalali, adding that “we echo concerns from UN experts that the situation... is truly horrific.”
Numerous people and groups from around the world have warned about the prisoner exchange treaty between Belgium and Iran, warning Belgian politicians against “giving the green light to state terrorism," and demanding that the bill be abandoned.
The treaty by the Belgian government that parliament is debating for approval could lead to the release of Assadollah Assadi, an Iranian diplomat serving a 20-year prison sentence in Belgium for “attempted murder and involvement in terrorism” for his role plotting to bomb a gathering of the exiled opposition group Mujahedin-e Khalq Organization (MEK) near Paris in 2018.
The committee was due to vote on the bill on Tuesday but adjourned the session until Wednesday after nearly four hours of debate. It is likely to be put before the full 150-member chamber on Thursday.