Iranian Online Shop Building Sealed As Hijab Tensions Rise

According to official government statistics, the volume of reservoirs in five of Tehran's dams has experienced a sharp decrease of 31 million cubic meters.

The semi-official ISNA news agency published a report on Monday attributing the decline to a combination of reduced rainfall in Tehran and the impact of climate change. As a result, the dams in the city are now holding considerably less water than in the previous year.

Out of the five dams under scrutiny, only Amir Kabir dam in Karaj, west of Tehran, stands as an exception, boasting a substantial increase in water volume. The reservoir at Amir Kabir dam currently holds 154 million cubic meters of water, representing a 28% growth compared to the previous year when it contained 125 million cubic meters.

However, the situation is markedly different for other dams in Tehran, as they continue to grapple with declining water levels.

Iran's water shortage problem has reached critical levels, prompting the Minister of Energy to pledge to address water tensions in some Iranian cities. Regrettably, despite this promise, reports indicate that water scarcity has spread to a vast majority of provinces, leaving only seven provinces unaffected.

In an alarming revelation, the Ministry of Energy disclosed that as many as 10,000 villages across Iran are experiencing a shortage of drinking water. Among the worst-hit areas is Kerman province, where 669 villages are facing severe water shortages.

In an unattributed commentary earlier this month, Aftab News in Tehran said millions of Afghan immigrants consume at least $5b of around $90 to 100 billion annual subsidies that the government is spending to keep fuel, other energy and food prices down. The website suggested that this is only one of the ways in which the authorities are encouraging Afghans to stay in Iran. 

The article suggested that the Islamic Republic might be facilitating Afghan immigration as a remedy to the problem of population decline. “We should not start to import a big population that lacks national and religious [conformity with the Iranian population] under the pretext that the country’s population may decline within the next few decades,” it said.

Iran’s Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei believes efforts to increase the country's population are among the most urgent duties and essential policies of the Islamic Republic as the main Shia government in the Muslim world. 

Aftab News is a website close to former President Hassan Rouhani and the moderate conservative Moderation and Development Party. 

“It is not difficult to understand that the presence of foreign nationals is highly beneficial to some segments of the state who can use these immigrants to serve their political and ideological interests, [particularly] in areas where Iranians are less inclined to participate,” the commentary said. 

Iranian authorities usually refer to Afghan immigrants and refugees as ‘foreign nationals’. 

“This is a very vague statement, but it is probably suggesting that authorities are hoping that immigrants, Shiite Afghans in particular, will fight for the regime should there be a war as some of them, the Fatemiyoun brigade, fought for the Revolutionary Guards in Syria, because recruiting Iranians to fight in such wars in becoming more and more difficult,” a political analyst who asked not to be quoted by name told Iran International. 

Thousands of Afghans fleeing the economic hardships under the Taliban enter Iran daily from official border points or illegally from other areas along the 900 km border to find work in Iran to support their families back home or to continue their journey towards Europe. 

In April 2021 Foreign Minister Hossein Amir-Abdollahian said one million more Afghans had entered Iran since the Taliban took power in August the previous year, bringing the number of refugees and economic migrant to five million. According to the UN Refugee Agency (UNHCR), Only 780,000 of Afghans residing in Iran are recognized as refugees. Most other Afghans are considered economic migrants who have been an important workforce in Iran.

The article also claimed that the number of Afghans has uncharacteristically increased in several Iranian cities including Qom where it said Afghans have been given the right to legally purchase property. Qom in central Iran is home to Iran's largest religious seminaries where many foreign nationals including Shia Afghans study. 

Allowing Afghans to buy property in Qom, it suggested, is proof that there is no resolve in related government agencies to control the Afghan immigration to Iran. 

The article also alleged that lack of control at eastern borders of the country, issuing thousands of tourist visas every day when applicants do not intend to return to their home country, automatic renewal of tourist, pilgrimage and other types of visas, elimination or reduction of cash fines for illegal entry and stay, illegal immigrants’ easy access to various services including education and healthcare “indicate targeted planning.” 

The drill comes as the US announced deployment of additional fighter planes to the region to deter any attempts by the Islamic Republic to seize commercial vessels in the Persian Gulf area.

More than 90 fighter planes, bombers, and drones are set to take part in the drill, named Devotees of the Supreme Leader-11), according to local media.

Air Force Chief Hamid Vahedi claimed the drill’s message is “friendship, peace, and regional security”. He said: "Sustainable security, improving and fostering regional ties, peaceful coexistence, and defending air borders are on the agenda."

Iran, facing long-running sanctions and arms embargoes, relies primarily on missiles and drones, rather than having a viable modern air force.

In response to previous Iranian attempts to seize commercial ships in the Strait of Hormuz and Gulf of Oman, the US is reinforcing its presence in the area. The Pentagon announced earlier that the USS Thomas Hudner, a destroyer, along with a number of F-35 fighter jets, will be deployed to enhance security in the region.

Tensions have escalated due to recent incidents involving Iranian actions towards commercial vessels. Last month, Iran attempted to seize two oil tankers, the Marshall Islands-flagged TRF Moss, and the Bahamian-flagged Richmond Voyager, with one of the ships coming under fire.

The US Navy has accused Iran of seizing at least five commercial vessels over the past two years and harassing several others.

Iran denies these allegations, claiming that the seizures occurred after the vessels collided with local ships and polluted the waterway.

“The revival of the hijab patrols, under any label and by different methods will erode public trust,” Jalil Rahimi Jahanabadi, a member of parliament’s national security committee, told local media Sunday.

At the same time, the Islamic Republic’s parliament has expanded a proposed hijab bill from 15 to 70 articles, another lawmaker announced Sunday. 

Anti-regime protests that began last September changed the mood of women who were more or less abiding by the clerical government’s compulsory hijab rules. For months now, thousands of women in cities are simply ignoring the requirement to cover their heads with long scarves and dress according to the government requirements.

Authorities who faced the most serious challenge to their rule in 44 years, backed down from confronting these women, fearing renewed protests. But this month they decided to re-deploy the morality or hijab police in the streets and immediately street confrontations began.

Jahanabadi said that the hijab crackdown is an insult to the people and will lead to more emigration of educated and professional groups from the country. Hijab police patrols will also create public fear and will agitate the people and turn to a new challenge for the Islamic Republic.

Other politicians and pundits have also warned that hijab crackdown can lead to new anti-regime protests, similar to when the killing of Mahsa Amini in September last year sparked unexpected nationwide protests. Although the unrest was triggered by an incident over hijab, but the underlying driving force was overall frustration with repression in general and economic hardship.

Jahanabadi did refer to the “deeply wounded” populace, that daily hears about “embezzlement, corruption and nepotism,” and also has to put up with an obligatory Islamic dress code. He implied in his remarks that those who continue to annoy and anger the people should know that they are sowing the seeds of “regime change.”

Hardliners, however, having the backing of Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei are determined to force women to back down. One explanation is that they want to subdue any dissent ahead of the protest anniversary in September. 

Women and young people is what the regime fears most. Reports on Saturday said that security officials want to make sure the universities are pacified before September.

“The enemy has not given up. They’ve said that universities are the first place where new riots should begin,” the official in charge of Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei’s representatives in universities across the country, Mostafa Rostami, said at a gathering Friday.

In advocating for preventive measures, Rostami said, “They will completely be defeated if they can’t do something on the anniversary of last year’s riots.”

Although by killing more than 500 protesters and detaining more than 20,000 security and intelligence forces were able to stop street protests earlier this year, they are aware that the potential for another flare-up is real. The hijab crackdown now is some sort of tactic preferring to attack rather than be on the defensive.

At the same time, activists both inside Iran and abroad have been discussing on social media the importance of the protest anniversary to show the regime that the movement is alive and strong.

The Meteorological Organization of Iran issued a warning for 14 provinces, cautioning about yellow weather conditions characterized by strong winds, rising dust, and declining air quality.

Sahar Tajbakhsh, the head of Iran's meteorological organization, expressed concern over the escalating sandstorms, attributing them to "the impact of climate change and powerful winds".

The situation has prompted authorities to advise respiratory patients, elderly individuals, children, and desert hikers in the affected provinces to avoid unnecessary travel.

In Markazi province, air pollution caused by dust has persisted for several days. The emergency working group of Qom province has also taken measures by reducing working hours due to worsening conditions.

While offices and schools in Tehran province remain open, environmental authorities have warned about the escalation of dust levels, reports state.

Desertification is considered a significant contributing factor to the problem. Approximately one million hectares of Iran's wetlands are transformed into fine dust centers each year, driven by the drying of wetlands.

Earlier, Iran's health ministry revealed that approximately half of the country’s population is currently facing hazardous dust storms, posing serious risks to people's health.