Iran announces it will punish all women who violate Islamic dress code, despite protests over the death of woman arrested by morality police
- Death of Mahsa Amini in September triggered widespread anti-regime protests
- But Islamic Republic has doubled down, arresting thousands in harsh crackdown
- Top jurist Gholamhossein Mohseni Ejei vowed to punish non-compliant women
Women violating the Islamic dress code will be punished, Iran’s judiciary chief has declared today, reaffirming the law after months of unrest that brought a deadly security crackdown.
‘Removing one’s hijab is equivalent to showing enmity to the Islamic Republic and its values. People who engage in such an abnormal act will be punished,’ Gholamhossein Mohseni Ejei told the state-run Islamic Republic News Agency (IRNA).
‘With the help of the judiciary and executive, authorities will use all available means to deal with the people who cooperate with the enemy and commit this sin that harms public order.’
The death of Iranian Kurdish woman Mahsa Amini while in police custody for flouting the dress code in September triggered nationwide protests that posed one of the toughest challenges to theocratic since its establishment in 1979.
But the Islamic Republic under Ayatollah Ali Khamenei has remained resolute, with the Supreme Leader ordering his security forces to brutally crack down on the unrest.
This image taken in October of an unveiled woman standing on top of a vehicle as thousands make their way towards Aichi cemetery in Mahsa Amini’s home town was one of the most powerful photos of 2022
People clash with police during a protest following the death of Mahsa Amini, in Tehran, Iran, 21 September 2022
People take part in a protest in Zahedan, Iran in this screen grab taken from a social media video released February 17, 2023
Iran’s judiciary chief said: ‘Removing one’s hijab is equivalent to showing enmity to the Islamic Republic and its values. People who engage in such an abnormal act will be punished’
Widespread civil unrest broke out in Iran following the suspicious death of Amini on September 16, 2022.
READ MORE: Iran’s Ayatollah vows to EXECUTE culprits behind mass poisoning of 1,000 schoolgirls targeted by ‘religious groups who want girls banned from the classroom’
The Law Enforcement Command of the Islamic Republic of Iran claimed she had a heart attack at a police station, collapsed, and fell into a coma before being transferred to a hospital.
But eyewitnesses allege she was severely beaten and died as a result of police brutality.
The case shed renewed light on the country’s treatment of women, with a growing number of female Iranians choosing to flout the Sharia-based law to wear the hijab.
Demonstrators have cut and burned their head coverings while shouting anti-Khameini slogans in what have been the longest-running anti-government protests in Iran since the 1979 Islamic revolution.
But Khameini’s regime has not wilted. Hundreds of protestors have been killed in clashes with security forces and thousands have been detained.
The latest crackdown on protestors in Iran comes days after the nation’s foreign minister shared a combative interview with CNN’s Christiane Amanpour last week.
Hossein Amirabdollahian could not stop smirking as he was grilled about his country’s record on women’s rights before telling the host ‘this is not the way to conduct an interview’ and insisting women in Iran had ‘all the necessary, required freedoms’.
The Islamic Republic under Ayatollah Ali Khamenei has remained resolute, with the Supreme Leader ordering his security forces to brutally crack down on the unrest
People in support of the Iranian community take part in the Freedom Rally for Iran demonstration against the Iranian regime on February 22, 2023 in Rome, Italy
During the tense interview, Amirabdollahian claimed Amini was turned into a ‘symbol’ by protesters and that the resulting frenzy was whipped up by Western media.
‘This is not the way to conduct an interview. Women in Iran have all the necessary, required freedoms within the framework of the law,’ he added.
‘Do you ask other countries? Do you ask other countries who are in our region but are allies of the United States the same kinds of questions that you’re asking me about the women’s hijab?
‘The issue in Iran at the moment is not that of hijab.’
Amirabdollahian also accused western media outlets of encouraging violent protests in his country.
‘In Iran we had an incident. An Iranian girl passed away and we were all very sorry about that.
‘But foreign interference and the Persian-language media that are based in the United States and Britain focused their activities on encouraging and instigating the riots and acts of terror.
‘And that’s why peaceful protests ended up becoming violent – because of the foreign intervention.
Iranian foreign minister Hossein Amirabdollahian smiled as he chastised CNN host Christiane Amanpour, telling her ‘this is not the way to conduct an interview’
CNN host Amanpour laid into the Iranian foreign minister over his country’s record on women’s rights
Mahsa Amini, 22, died on September 16, three days after falling into a coma following her arrest
He added: ‘I can tell you this in full confidence that our police and the security forces in Iran have not killed anyone with bullets or any other means in these riots.’
He claimed police did not have the power to use firearms in the riots.
Last Monday, Amirabdollahian was controversially tasked with giving a speech on Human Rights at a UN meeting.
Videos circulating on Twitter appeared to show dozens of UN diplomats walking out as he started to speak.
In one clip an unidentified Iranian woman can be heard saying: ‘They are without shame and should be embarrassed. They are child killers.’
A letter by UN Watch – a Geneva-based organisation monitoring activities of the UN – urged all 193 members to leave the meeting.
It gathered more than 100 signatures from prominent lawmakers, human rights campaigners and celebrities.
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