How did the Iranians react to the authorities' decision to review the compulsory veil?

Tehran -

Iranian movements welcomed the announcement by the Iranian Public Prosecutor, Muhammad Jaafar Montazeri, that Parliament and the judiciary are reviewing the compulsory hijab law, in addition to stopping the work of the "morality police". Activists expressed their concerns.

Observers considered that the Iranian decision was the first regression of its kind since the outbreak of the protest movement against the death of the young woman, Mahsa Amini (22 years), in mid-September, after she was arrested by the "morality police" in Tehran on the pretext of her failure to wear decent clothing.

The decision to abolish the work of the morality police and to review the veil law in Iran was welcomed by the conservative and reformist political currents, but it raised doubts among observers and activists in the demand movement, who expressed their fear of exploiting it to silence popular protests.

Law review

For his part, the Secretary-General of the conservative Sabz (Green) party, Hussein Kanani Moghadam, revealed that he had previously submitted, along with a number of political parties, a proposal to the Iranian Parliament to review the compulsory veil law based on his conviction that the use of the morality police to implement it does not serve the issue of veiling in the country.

Speaking to Al-Jazeera Net, the conservative politician criticized the compulsory veil in the country, and demanded the adoption of soft methods to implement "enjoining good and forbidding evil" instead of criminalizing individuals and entering the morality police on the line of implementation.

Kanaani Moghaddam said that amending the veil law requires its review by the religious institution on the one hand, and the parliament on the other hand, stressing that many figures in the government and parliament have reached a conviction of the need to review the veil law based on the principle of individual rights, especially after the recent popular demands.

The conservative politician concluded that the obligatory veil negatively affects the implementation of the veil law, stressing that he believes in the necessity of placing the responsibility for choosing the veil and how to implement it on the shoulders of believers, both men and women.

Iran's protests began after the death of the young woman, Mahsa Amini, before its causes and demands expanded (Anatolia)

Shy interaction

In the reformist camp, the Secretary-General of the Iranian People's Unions Party, Azar Mansouri, believes that the decision came in response to the main reason that sparked the ongoing protests for more than two months, describing the step as a shy interaction and submission to the lowest popular demands related to freedoms and voices calling for comprehensive reforms. .

Mansouri added, in her interview with Al-Jazeera Net, that the issue of compulsory veiling and guidance patrols represents only a small part of the popular demands, and that the ruling authorities are required to carry out serious and comprehensive reforms at the various political, social and economic levels to bridge the gap between the segments of the people and power.

And she called on the authorities of her country to listen to the demands of the protesters and analyze the causes of the protests objectively, stressing that accusing the protesters of implementing an external agenda and suppressing the protest movement will not help solve the crisis.

The Secretary-General of the "Iranian People's Unions" party concluded by saying that it is still too early to judge the step announced by the Iranian authority to review the veil law and interact with popular demands.

Government anesthesia

For her part, women's activist Farnaz Mulla Muhammad saw the announcement by the Iranian Public Prosecutor to review the veil law during the next two weeks as an anesthesia to seize the demands of the protesters, stressing that the feminist movement in Iran calls for equal rights for women and men, and that the abolition of the compulsory veil is only the least of the few. popular demands.

And she welcomed - in her interview with Al-Jazeera Net - any step aimed at achieving the rights of Iranian women, stressing that the protesters' demands are clear and cannot be circumvented by limiting them to the compulsory veil law and the morality police.

Mulla Muhammad added that the protests, which have maintained their momentum for more than two months, are calling for comprehensive reforms and the granting of broad freedoms to citizens, and they cannot be extinguished by providing anesthesia doses that do not fatten or satisfy hunger, as she put it.

The penalty for not wearing the hijab in Iran may range from 10 days to two months in prison (Reuters)

The veil controversy

Reza Shah, the first Pahlavi, had passed a law in January 1936 requiring Iranian women to remove their headscarves, considering it a manifestation of backwardness.

After the advent of the Islamic Revolution in Iran in 1979, the veil returned to the political fore again, after instructions from the late leader of the revolution, Ayatollah Khomeini, required that women wear the legal veil outside their homes.

The veil became compulsory in the Islamic Republic, starting in April 1983, that is, 4 years after the revolution that overthrew the Shah's regime.

The law stipulates that the punishment applies to all women who do not abide by the well-known legal hijab, but in practice it was applied only to those who transgressed the customary hijab familiar to Iranian society, which has become somewhat acceptable to the Iranian authorities after its wide spread in the past years.