Tehran To Deploy Hijab Enforcers At Subway Stations

Firoozeh Bazrafkan, who has staged similar symbolic performances several times in the past, said the deliberate shredding of the Quran was a commentary on the Iranian regime’s hypocritical demand for respect for the holy book while it fails to show any respect for women’s rights.

She dedicated her performance to Iran’s women and men who continue to defy the oppressive regime, and extended her tribute to citizens and politicians worldwide who support the Iranian people’s quest for a dignified life.

Bazrafkan has staged several performances against the Islamic Republic and its religious ideology. The artist and blogger is known for including nudity, shredded Qurans, blasphemy and Nazi hymns in her works.

In an installation art piece dubbed "Blasphemy?” showcased in a gallery in 2014, she ran a copy of the Quran through a shredder and placed it on a prayer mat. Later in that year, she released a video, in which she stripped naked and put her clothes over the Quran, while another artist, Kasper Norby Lund, recited texts from the book.

In recent weeks, copies of the Quran have been burnt on several occasions in Sweden and Denmark. The Iranian government has strongly condemned the desecrations and officials have threatened the perpetrators with severe punishment.

As pressure is growing on the British government to proscribe the IRGC, Home Secretary Braverman fears that the outfit is stepping up its activities, attempting to recruit members of organized crime gangs to target opponents of the regime.

The Sunday Times quoted a source close to the home secretary as saying that “The Iranian threat is the one that worries us the most.”

“It’s a big issue because they are getting much more aggressive, and their appetite is increasing. They are very defensive to anyone challenging their regime and just want to stamp it out,” the source said, underlining that “They are increasing their agitation.”

In February, Security Minister Tom Tugendhat told Parliament that the Iranian regime was behind 15 credible threats to kill or kidnap British citizens or people based in the UK in just over a year.

However, last month, the government again rejected calls to proscribe the IRGC as a terrorist group in favor of expanding the criteria by which its supporters and affiliated companies can be put under sanctions. The UK Foreign Office seems worried that designating the IRGC as a terrorist group could permanently harm diplomatic relations.

The new sanctions regime would allow ministers for the first time to sanction Iranian officials and individuals for their activities both Iran and in the UK, where they seem to have increased their sway.

The Home Secretary’s warning came just after Iran's IRGC commanders were revealed to be spreading extremist antisemitic propaganda in UK universities via a London student organization. The Sunday Times disclosed earlier in the week details of the close relationship between the Islamic Republic and the Islamic Students Association located in a former Methodist church in west London.

The association was set up to promote the religious and political philosophy of Ruhollah Khomeini, the founder and first Supreme Leader of the regime who ruled until his death in 1989.

The center hosts discussions with Iranian government officials and hardline clerics at Kanoon Towhid, an old church in Hammersmith that carries a portrait of Khomeini at its altar, as well as the Islamic Republic's flag.

According to an investigation by the Jewish Chronicle, since early 2020, at least eight IRGC leaders addressed British student audiences, trying to radicalize them. The speakers, some of whom are sanctioned by Britain for human rights abuses, have been involved in suppressing dissent within Iran.

Recordings obtained by media outlets exposed statements from commanders like Saeed Ghasemi, who claimed the Holocaust was "fake" and advocated for violence against Jews in “an apocalyptic war.”

Another IRGC man who delivered lectures at the center was Hossein Yekta – a commander of IRGC’s plainclothes agent during crackdown on protesters – who claimed Jews "created homosexuality" and urged his audience to "raise the flag of the Islamic revolution, Islam, and martyrdom."

The association's internal elections are also observed by representatives of the Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei. In January this year, Mohammad Hossein Ataee Dolatabadi, a former chairman of the association and a master's degree student at the University of Bradford, made a trip to Tehran, where he met Khamenei. He later received a 'blessed' keffiyeh, which is a traditional Arabic headdress, as a gift, a token of his allegiance to Iran’s ruler.

Dolatabadi says he is no longer the chair of the organization since October 2022. Nonetheless, he remains the chair of its parent organization, the Union of Islamic Students Associations in Europe, according to Khamenei's official website.

The association's Telegram channel had reportedly made posts praising Qasem Soleimani, the former IRGC Quds Force commander who was killed in a US air strike in January 2020.

Alicia Kearns, the chair of the Foreign Affairs committee, condemned the organization's activities, stating, "To broadcast the jihadist and deeply antisemitic ideas of senior members of the IRGC to students across Britain is a brazen act of radicalization. We must pursue and prosecute those responsible for trying to incite violence here in the UK."

The Russian attack came in two waves. First, missiles were fired at various targets late on August five, and the second wave followed on August 6, when the Iranian drones were used.

Ukrainian officials said all 27 Shahed 136 and 131 drones were shot down by air defenses but some of the missiles fired from the Black Sea and the Caspian region got through.

Russia regularly uses the Iranian drones during massive missile attacks to overwhelm Ukraine’s air defenses, although Kyiv’s military has learned how to shoot down most of the relatively slow-moving Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAVs).

Iran has supplied hundreds of the killer drones to Russia since mid-2022, but insists it is neutral in the war and is not arming Russia.

US Defense Intelligence Agency (DIA) has decided to show foreign officials “undeniable” evidence of the Iranian origin of the drones shout down over Ukraine NBC News reported on Friday.

Washington first warned about Tehran’s plan to supply attack drones to Russia in July 2022 and in October it announced that indeed Moscow had started to use Shahed kamikaze drones against Ukraine. In February the DIA issued a report saying that analysis confirmed Russia’s use of various lethal Iranian unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) against Ukraine.

Thousands of people usually apply to be approved as candidates in Iran’s legislative elections, but most are disqualified by the constitutional watchdog, the Guardian Council, and the interior ministry.

Any aspirant for candidacy must first be a loyal supporter of the clerical regime. No critics or dissidents have ever received approval to run in elections. However, the highly controversial vetting reached a new level of discrimination in the 2020 parliamentary elections, when most moderate regime insiders were also banned. The result was a parliament dominated by ultraconservative hardliners.

Candidate registration usually takes place one month before the vote, but this year the government has decided to launch early registration that will last one week. The scheme seems to be designed to create an aura of a more democratic electoral environment, but in practical terms it changes nothing in the vetting process. It will also allow more time for the government to check the background of those who pre-register.

Interior Minister Ahmad Vahidi Sunday urged prospective candidates to register now but resign in the final official registration.

In Tehran, analysts, as well as many regime politicians, have been warning that, following the 2020 experience, only hardliners are likely to register for March 2024. This will hurt the credibility and the legitimacy of the next parliament, amid an already tense political environment after months of popular protests.

Many have urged the government to organize a more inclusive vote, allowing reformists and moderates to compete next year.

Sabereen News, an Arabic and Persian Telegram channel affiliated with the Revolutionary Guards, released a video showing the arrest of Soraya Rezai Mahvar,the R&D Manager of Myket.

The video also showcases images of tweets by Rezai Mahvar expressing her opposition to the compulsory hijab.

According to Iranian daily Sharq, she was arrested at her workplace last week. However, no information is available about the arresting authority or the reason for her detention.

Several online shopping platforms including online bookshop Taghcheh (Taaghche), online retailer Digikala, and marketing platform Azkey were shot down during the past few days not for their operations, but for the way their employees dressed in photographs posted on social media platforms. The companies Myket and Taaghcheare among the subsidiaries of the holding company Hasin.

Days after several online shopping platforms were shut down by the Iranian government over lack of hijab, the Judiciary claimed it had no role in the decision, revealing the chaos surrounding the way the government enforces compulsory hijab and controls online businesses and social media platforms.

Following the denials by various officials about their involvement in the closure of businesses, social media users noted the chaos in handling hijab and online activities in Iran and wrote that no one in the government is brave enough to accept responsibility for harsh measures.