Iran’s President Raisi wants to maintain tight laws governing headscarves

Iran’s President Ebrahim Raisi wants to keep imposing stringent police inspections on women for wearing headscarves in spite of strong opposition from the public.

 

Raisi said on Sunday that “respecting the headscarf is not only a religious but also a political and legal obligation for Iranian women.”

As a result, the ultra-conservative priest said that there is “no doubt whatsoever” that inspections must be conducted regularly, according to the website of the Presidential office.

Police and moral guardians have resumed their crackdown on headscarf infractions since the start of the new Persian year on March 20.

Social media videos even show altercations that have occurred during certain inspections between women and moral guards.

Nationwide demonstrations against the Islamic government and its clothing code were triggered by the September 2022 murder of Mahsa Amini, a young Iranian Kurdish lady, while she was in police detention.

The moral guards had held Amini on the grounds that her headscarf did not fit her properly. She passed away in the police station a few days later, purportedly as a consequence of aggression by the officers.

Since then, an increasing number of Iranian women have disregarded the mandatory headscarf out of sympathy with the young Kurdish lady.

The stringent police regulations have also been criticized by Iranian Islamic communities. They firmly believe that violence cannot be used to transform women into virtuous, pious Muslims.