Iran resumes stricter control of veiling by women after wave of protests

More than a hundred days after the death of Mahsa Amini and a cooling-off of the protests triggered by the case against the regime, the moral police of Iran has resumed control of the use of the hijab by women even in vehicles, reported this Monday (2) the press place.

“The police started the new phase of the Nazer-1 program [‘Vigilância’, em tradução do persa] across the country,” reported the Fars news agency, linked to the Iranian regime.

The program aims to detect the absence of hijab use to then send an alert message to women who are not dressed in accordance with the norms imposed by the regime. “The absence of the use of the veil in his vehicle was detected. It is necessary to respect the norms of society and not repeat this act”, will be the message sent to whoever is considered an offender, according to Fars.

The agency informs that, in case of persistent non-compliance with the rules, legal and judicial measures may be applied. The Nazer program was launched by the Iranian moral police in 2020.

The measure should change the behavior of the moral police officer in recent months. Protesters say that, in response to protests triggered by the death of the young Kurdish girl Amini in September, authorities have suspended the detention of women who did not dress according to the rules of the regime. In recent months, the presence of the moral police on the streets has also become less frequent. Easing the repression would be a tactic by the regime to cool down the protests, according to activists.

Amini was killed while in the custody of the moral police in Tehran. She was detained for allegedly violating the strict dress code for women in the country – authorities say she had health problems, which would have caused her death, but the young woman’s family says she was beaten by authorities.

In the face of recent demonstrations, the Union of the Islamic People of Iran, the main reformist party in the country, called for the relaxation of the law that requires the use of the hijab. The acronym, formed by allies of former president Mohamed Khatami, asked the authorities to prepare “the legal elements for the annulment of the law”.

The proposal, however, is rejected by the president of Iran, the ultraconservative Ebrahim Raisi. In July, he had already called on “all state institutions” to increase enforcement of headscarves. “The enemies of Iran and Islam want to undermine society’s cultural and religious values ​​by spreading corruption,” he said at the time.

Raisi, like other leaders of the Iranian regime, has been the target of protests that challenge Iran’s theocracy since Amin’s death.

In the regime’s crackdown on protests, an Iranian general admitted in November that at least 300 people had died, including dozens of security force agents. Thousands more were arrested, and at least 13 were sentenced to death by the regime – at least 2 have already been executed.

Organizations for the defense of human rights based outside Iran report, among a series of violations, even higher numbers. According to the activist agency HRANA, 507 protesters were killed by the police and military, including 69 minors, in addition to 66 agents of the security forces. Regarding the arrests, there would be more than 18,500 – most of which have already been released, according to the regime.

Two more young Iranians were sentenced to hang this Monday for their participation in protests against the regime, according to the NGO Iran Human Rights, based in Norway, which works in defense of human rights.

Mehdi Mohammadifard, 18, is accused of setting fire to a traffic police station in the town of Nowshahr (west), in the province of Mazandaran. The death sentence was handed down by a revolutionary court in Sari, the provincial capital, after declaring the young man guilty of charges of practicing “corruption on Earth” and “enmity against God”.

Another protester, Mohammad Ghobadlou, 19, was also sentenced to death for “enmity against God”, according to the judiciary’s news agency, Mizan Online. He is accused of stabbing a security guard “with the intention of killing him”, “sowing terror among the citizens” and “burning down the government headquarters in the city of Pakdasht”, southeast of Tehran.

The NGO Iran Human Rights reported last week that at least 100 protesters risked execution. The first hangings drew an international outcry, and human rights groups are calling for pressure on Iran to prevent further executions.

Two 23-year-old men had already been executed for their participation in protests over Amini’s death. The NGOs fear that other dozens of people will also be hanged, considering that the authorities use the penalty as a measure to intimidate and try to quell the protests.

Dissatisfaction with the regime rose even before Mahsa’s death, with the publication of videos that showed the moral police dragging women into vans, taking them by force to re-education centers.