Tehran Attorney’s Office holds several women for not wearing Islamic veil

A tehran prosecutor announced today the arrest of several women for not wearing an Islamic veil, classifying as a ‘campaign against the ‘hijab’’ the considerable increase in the number of women with heads discovered in the last year.

According to the U.S. Attorney’s Office, the arrests, the exact number of which was not specified, took place on Iranshahr Street in the Iranian capital, a central area known for its cafés and frequented by young people, including many women who do not wear the veil, reported the Mizan agency, linked to the Iranian judicial system.

In addition, she accused the women arrested of being “connected to currents that openly promote non-compliance with the use of ‘hijab’ and warned that, in coordination with the security forces, she would take action against these practices in accordance with the law.

“ In compliance with the instructions of the head of the Judicial Power [Gholamhossein Mohseni Eji] to identify and act against organized groups that promote practices such as the absence of veil use and nudity, and that commit or encourage behaviors considered socially inappropriate, Tehran’s prosecutor intervened,” wrote Mizan.

At the end of September, Ejei ordered the Attorney General of the State to “securely combat social anomalies”, referring to women who do not wear the Islamic veil or do not cover the body; the order initiated a series of measures by the authorities.

In October, the prosecutor of the Iranian capital filed a lawsuit against the organizers of the Tehran Art Fair, on charges of non-compliance with “legal and Islamic standards”, and also initiated an investigation into the Fitex sports fair, after conservative criticism of the participation of women who allegedly violated Islamic clothing standards.

The decision to make the measures more severe was made before the growing presence of women who go out on the street in large cities such as Tehran, or participate in social events without covering their hair, and sometimes wear short-sleeved shirts, short-sleeved shirts or ‘tops’, especially during the last year.

This situation is the result of a movement of female civil disobedience that arose after the death of Mahsa Amini, a 22-year-old Kurdish woman arrested for not wearing the Islamic veil properly and beaten by the Revolutionary Guard until she entered a coma, when she was hospitalized, dying days later.

The episode triggered mass protests against the Islamic Republic and its “Moral Police,” under the motto “Women, Life, Freedom”, which were violently repressed by the authorities, resulting in hundreds of deaths and thousands of detainees, according to human rights organizations.