Iran International
Various civic and popular organizations in Iran are joining the chorus of support for students in Tehran who have been staging protests against stricter hijab.
Support for defiance of stricter hijab by students who staged a sit-in against wearing a hood-like head covering Wednesday and condemnation of violence against them is growing.
Students in several other universities across the country and various social and political groups have expressed solidarity with the students at University of Art in Tehran.
A statement released by a group of Tehran University students Saturday told the authorities that "the policy of maximum repression” they have adopted in universities will ultimately fail “like other forms of repression” used against Iranian people.
Protesting students at the University of Art and their supporters released a short statement Sunday, which addressing the authorities, said students had “nothing to tell them except one word: NO!” and insisted that they would continue “to fight for freedom”.
Male and female plainclothes agents abducted at least ten students from the campus on Saturday and took them to an unknown location without any interference from police special forces who were present around the university. Student sources said all but two of the detained students were freed Sunday.
Students had been protesting new rules that require women to wear a pullover headscarf with stitched front (called Maghna’e in Iran) which is like a nun’s coif, completely covering the head and the neck. Failing to comply, the university has said, would result in suspension.
According to the popular Telegram channel of the National Student Unions Council, at about 2:30 am Thursday, Hamzeh Borzouei attacked a group of about fifty students who had begun a sit-in protest.
Iranian Writers’ Association in a statement published Friday supported the students’ action and said authorities and those who carry out their orders of repression will be responsible for any harm to the students.
In recent months, security and intelligence organs have increased pressure on students for hijab, presumably to stop the growth of the anti-compulsory hijab movement in universities across the country and suspended dozens of students.
In June Sepideh Rashno, a 29-year-old anti-compulsory hijab activist, said in an Instagram post that Al-Zahra University of Tehran had suspended her for two semesters. Rashno was tortured in detention into making a televised “confession” and condemning other activists as well as expressing regret for her confrontation with a hijab enforcer on a city bus in July last year and posting a video of the incident on social media.
Authorities have also been trying to isolate artists who supported the Woman, Life, Freedom movement or defied hijab rules.
Entekhab news website Saturday published the image of a letter from an official regulating the film industry, Habib Ilbeigi, to the chairman of film producers’ union in which filmmakers are ordered not to employ actors and others who have defied the hijab “or personally face the consequences” including refusal of a screening permit.
Police chief, Ahmad-Reza Radan, said earlier this week that the government of President Ebrahim Raisi has approved extra funds to install more hijab surveillance cameras and that four special task groups have been launched to continue the war against hijab rebellion including one that will monitor social media platforms to identify those who publish photos of themselves without hijab.
Anti-hijab and anti-regime protests erupted in Iran in September 2022 after Mahsa Amini, a young woman was arrested in the street by the notorious ‘morality police’ and received fatal head injuries during here detention and later died in hospital.
Confidential letters published by the group Uprising till Overthrow revealed that the regime officials are aware their support for the Russian invasion of Ukraine may lead to criminal cases against Tehran for its involvement in the war.
Referring to the annulment of at least five agreements between Iran and Ukraine over the issue, the documents pointed out that Kiev has also sanctioned a large number of Iranian officials and also rejected calls for negotiations by the Islamic Republic.
The point that comes across in the hacked letters by General Staff of the Armed Forces of the Islamic Republic of Iran and the foreign ministry sent to the president’s office is that they know very little about the military cooperation with Moscow, suggesting that it is handled by the Revolutionary Guards, most probably with the approval of Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei.
Rolling with the punches, the organizations offered a number of suggestions to compensate for the “loss of dignity” by making demands from the Russian government.
In the documents, the General Staff asked the government not to deny Iran’s involvement in the war and its supply of drones to Moscow because the European and other Western countries are evidently sure about the military support.
Among the ways to dampen the effects of Iran’s support for the Russian invasion of Ukraine is holding talks with Kyiv officials to keep the channel of interaction open between the two countries.
The correspondence with the president’s office shows the regime’s concerns over the Ukrainian government downgrading relations with the Islamic Republic, calling for planning for such a scenario through preparing the regime’s embassy in Moldova to handle consular matters.
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs emphasized that the diplomatic missions of the regime in European countries should become more active so that they can be aware of the possible plans of European countries for any possible legal action against Iran, implying that they are aware that regime officials can be prosecuted for their involvement in the war.
Noting that 37 countries have filed lawsuits against Russia at the International Criminal Court, the ministry said that such a lawsuit can also be filed against the Islamic Republic.
The hacktivist group ‘Uprising till Overthrow -- affiliated with the Albania-based opposition Mojahedin-e-Khalq (MEK) group -- produced documents in May showing that it breached 120 servers of the presidential office, getting access to internal communications, meetings minutes, President Ebrahim Raisi’s online conference platforms and about 1,300 computers inside the offices. The MEK-affiliated group has been releasing the documents on its social media accounts.
Iran has repeatedly denied sending armed drones to Russia after Moscow launched its invasion in February 2022, claiming that any shipments occurred before the war.
However, Russia has used hundreds of Iranian-made drones to attack Ukrainian infrastructure and civilian targets, with Kyiv reporting more supplies in December as Moscow’s stocks were used up.
Western powers have strongly objected to Iran's decision to arm Russia with Kamikaze drones, and possibly other weapons and ammunition.
Ahmad Alirezabeigi told Rouydad24 news website in Tehran that his access to his microphone at the parliament (Majles) was cut off even before the legislature’s supervisory board attended to his case. He added: "The Speaker of the parliament read out the verdict against me before it was issued by the board!"
On Sunday some unconfirmed reports emerged that the ban has been lifted, but he has still not been observed speaking in the parliament.
Iranian authorities have confirmed that some 300 SUVs were given to the Majles at a highly discounted price ahead of a proposed impeachment of the minister of industry in 2022, but Alirezabeigi says still 153 are unaccounted for and no one knows who took delivery of those vehicles.
Alirezabeigi further added that barring lawmakers from addressing the parliament is not part of the Majles Supervisory Board's authority, and Speaker Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf has imposed the ban arbitrarily. He said lawmakers are entitled to challenge any verdict by the board, but he cannot do anything at the time being as the verdict has not been officially announced.
The lawmaker says he was also called to a court of justice in May to respond to questions, but he was told that there are no charges against him as no one has filed a complaint about the matter.
"I found out later that the minister in question has sent a letter about the issue to the Iranian judiciary, but he had not even named me in that letter," Alirezabeigi said, adding that "by barring me from speaking at the Majles, the authorities have deprived the people in my constituency of their voice being heard."
Meanwhile, an outspoken former lawmaker, Gholamali Jafarzadeh Imanabadi has likened the lawmaker's punishment to the shelling of the parliament by anti-constitutionalists at the beginning of the 20th century. Imanabadi further charged: "The Majles is no longer the House of the People. It is a place where the presidium dictates whatever it deems right."
He explained that giving the SUVs to lawmakers at a discounted price is a concession they should have not accepted. He said although they have paid for the cars, but they ignore the fact that the vehicles are worth much more in the market and not everyone can get those cars at the price they think they have purchased it. "Would they sell the cars to you at such a discounted price if you were not members of parliament? Certainly no!"
He emphasized that the parliament should have not been allowed to bar a representative of the people from speaking. The Majles has pretty much cut off the voice of all those who had voted for this representative.
Imanabadi said the presidium of the Majles should have taken action about the bribery instead of barring the lawmaker from speaking about corruption. Citind parliament’s by-laws he said, “You cannot bar a lawmaker from speaking even if what he says is tantamount to libel.” Instead, anyone who believes has been offended will be given time to defend or explain.
Imanabadi said: "It is surprising that the other lawmakers are silent about this matter. This could have happened to any one of them." He added that according to a former speaker of the Majles, Mehdi Karroubi, cutting off a lawmaker's microphone “is a sign of despotism."
Imanabadi further suggested that Alirezabeigi should resign in protest.
Reformist daily Shargh Online wrote in a political analysis that conservative political figures such as, former parliamentary Speaker and traditional conservative Gholamreza Ali Haddad-Adel and his successor, neo-conservative Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf are not likely to be able to win the next parliamentary elections in March even if they form a coalition together.
The report said that they might need the support of moderate conservative Ali Larijani, another former Speaker to make that form a successful alliance. Only then they might be able to defeat the powerful hardline conservative front led by former IRGC General Sadeq Mahsouli one of the leaders of Paydari Party, which other conservatives regard as a “radical” group.
The analysis loosely characterised Ali Larijani as “the new right,” Ghalibaf and Haddad Adel as “moderate right” and Paydari as “radical.” This characterisation is interesting and shows how the far right has radically distanced itself from the main body of the conservative camp, so that all others look relatively moderate when they are compared with Paydari.
Such a tripartite alliance, if ever formed, may be able to put an end to the country’s political impasse and save the Islamic Republic from an even bigger political crisis, the analysis concluded.
However, the report ignored the fact that without opening up some space for the regime’s ‘reformists’ the political impasse will not end.
The Coalition Council of the Revolutionary Forces (Persian acronym: SHANA) which represents traditional conservatives, held a meeting on Thursday but like many other such meetings by political groups and parties they did not publish any photos of the gathering for the likely reason of a low turnout.
The monopoly of power by hardliners in both the executive and the parliament has dissuaded more moderate conservatives from a serious political agenda as they know that forming coalitions and will not work unless they have the overt support of Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei and his aides.
According to Shargh, politicians such as Ghalibaf and Haddad-Adel fear that without Larijani joining them, the radicals might kick them out of political competitions in the same way they got rid of Larijani in the 2021 presidential elections. However, the article did elaborate on why Larijani can help the other two politicians, who apart from everything else, happen to be Khamenei’s relatives.
All other conservative alliances during previous elections either fell apart before the voting day or they were faced down by the ultra-conservative Paydari in the last minute.
On the other hand, Ali Larijani is not known for having a sizeable following. Members of the Iranian Parliament who worked closely with him have not been observed to defend him after his disqualification by the Guardian Council in 2021. Since then, on the contrary, the Paydari has been gaining more political power in the parliament where it holds the majority, and in President Ebrahim Raisi’s cabinet.
The only factor that can help more moderate conservatives, including Larijani and Haddad-Adel, is the poor record of ultra conservatives both in the cabinet and in parliament, where Ghalibaf as speaker shares the blame.
Both the current economic crisis and repression, with no end in sight, have badly discredited the hardliners, who for the past two years have enjoyed a total monopoly of power.
On the other hand, some political observers in Iran, including the author of Shargh’s analysis, Davoud Heshmati believe the “purification” process that kicked Larijani out of the power circle might also expel Ghalibaf in the next election.