More than six months after the death of young woman Mahza Amini sparked protests against the country’s morality police, a video of a man pouring milk on the heads of two women who don’t wear headscarves has reignited outrage in hard-line Iran. Codes.

On Saturday, Iranian authorities ordered the arrest of two women, according to the Justice Department, after a video clip went viral showing a man assaulting them after seeing them without a veil.

Despite the incident taking place against the backdrop of protests that have left hundreds dead, Iranian President Ibrahim Raisi on Saturday did not hesitate to emphasize the need for Iranian women to wear the veil as a “religious imperative”.

The religious establishment in Iran sees the removal of the veil as a blow to its values ​​and authority, which even began with the Shah of Iran.

Removal of veil is compulsory

Controversy over the hijab in Iran dates back to the era of Shah Reza Pahlavi, who issued a decree on January 8, 1936, entitled “Removal of the Hijab”.

As the Shah admired Western culture, the decree approved the abolition of the veil for working Iranian women in an attempt to modernize the country along Western lines.

It sends a reportThe insiderThe Shah admired the culture prevailing in Turkey, and in a speech he gave after his visit in 1936, said that women were “on the way to other rights in addition to the great privilege of motherhood.”

According to the report, Shah’s order was in stark contrast to what the country sees today, as it ordered the police to strip women of their veils and remove them.

Shah’s order angered conservatives in society and dissidents within the country’s religious establishment.

As is the case in Iran today, Iranian women protested the Shah’s decision, and an “Insider” report notes that women wore the hijab in the 1970 revolution, becoming a symbol of protest against the Shah’s rule. Hijab as a form of resistance.

Hijab must be worn by law

After the Islamic Revolution that ousted the Shah in 1979, Ayatollah Khomeini overturned the previous regime’s decisions, imposing the veil on girls and preventing married girls from attending regular schools.

In a statement released by the companyCarnegieIranian women immediately went into protest after Khomeini’s announcement and faced violent repression from forces loyal to the revolution, which later became the Moral Police.

After Khomeini’s decision, veil laws were tightened in Iran, women were denied the right to education and prevented from returning to work, and the regime monitored those who did not wear the veil before 1979.

Since 1983, the veil has been compulsory in Iran, and it has become a political symbol of clerical rule that Iranian women do not hesitate to challenge whenever they get the chance.

In 2005, the country established the Morality Police to arrest women who violate hijab rules, and Iran’s judiciary now imposes a prison sentence of ten days to two months or a fine of up to 550,000 rials for violating hijab rules. .

Amini was killed at the hands of the morality police on September 16, six months after their crackdown, sparking a wave of protests still contributing to the transformation of Iranian society.

The 22-year-old was traveling to Tehran with his brother and relatives when he was stopped as he exited the metro in the center of the capital.

She was accused of “indecent” dress and taken to the morality police station, which is accused of enforcing the country’s strict dress code for women.

The young woman, who was preparing to enter university in Kurdistan province in western Iran, died in hospital three days after the accident. Officials denied any involvement in the death.

Since the start of the protest movement, there have been more public sightings of bare-chested women, but the judiciary has rarely pursued a single one of them, before the video showed a man pouring milk on the heads of two undressed women. The veil has once again sparked controversy.

In a video that has gone viral on social media in Iran, a mother and her daughter can be seen in a shop when a man approaches them and talks to them for a while before pouring milk on their heads.

Iranians expressed their anger on social media, and one compared the incident to a reminder of a series of attacks targeting women using acid or acid since 2014.

Fear of the future

The Iranian regime does not appear to be considering backing down from its strict hijab imposition.VardaIranian lawmakers have proposed new measures regarding the “Hijab Law”.

Hossein Jalali, a member of the Iranian parliament, said lawmakers would seek to impose fines of up to $60,000 and confiscate their passports and driver’s licenses for violating the law.

During Ramadan, members of the Basij paramilitary forces will be sent to the Shiite city of Qom to reinforce and enforce the law, the site said.

Among the measures proposed by the authorities is the use of surveillance cameras to identify and punish “violators” of the veil law.

At a plenary session of the Iranian parliament on March 14, Bijan Nobava, a member of the culture committee, revealed new measures on the hijab that have been backed by the leadership, including cutting off internet connections from violators’ phones.

According to Farda’s statement, if “corporal punishment” is excluded, police and judicial authorities will be tasked with gathering evidence and identifying violators.

According to the new procedures, business owners like shop owners and shopping centers will have to enforce these rules.