What to Make of Iran’s Khamenei’s “Plan” to Put Pressure on Women
Iran-women-with-improper-hijab
Written by
Mansoureh Galestan
On March 29, while citing the roots of the recent uprising, the Iranian regime’s supreme leader, Ali Khamenei, claimed the “enemy has engaged in these developments on certain agendas, and we should have our own agendas as well,” ordering his thugs to further increase pressure on Iranian women.
Since the beginning of the New Persian Year of 1402, Khamenei has tasked his forces with parallel oppressive measures of chemical attacks against mainly all-girls schools and further forcing the mandatory hijab.
On April 7, Yahya Elahi, head of Lorestan Province’s State Security Force, announced what seems to be Khamenei’s “plan” for so-called “combatting” those not abiding by the mandatory hijab law.
“The heads of three branches gathered and issued a unique statement regarding officials and organizations’ duties to be implemented in society,” he said.
Why is the regime in Iran obsessed with the mandatory hijab?
The directive has four parts. The first part, “enforcers’ directive,” is about “improper veiling in the car.” According to this part:
At least 3,000 enforcers have been trained and are now on duty.
An application will be installed on the sorcerers’ phones, allowing them to send a warning text message to women, which reads: “You were witnessed not wearing your hijab in your car and not abiding by Sharia law.”
The text message will be kept as a criminal record.
Police forces will intervene and impound the individual’s car “without delay or mercy.”
The second part concerns enforcers’ role in public places such as restaurants, coffee shops, etc. In this regard, Elahi underlined that they have “warned and briefed all public places’ owners. “We have emphasized that they ought to prevent any improperly veiled women from entering their places. The employees also shouldn’t allow the improperly-veiled clients to enter the facilities,” Elahi stressed.
The third section of the directive is about public resorts, such as the streets and parks. “We have installed CCTV cameras in public places and public resorts and monitor those violating the hijab law. If women do not wear their hijabs, we will use our face-recognition technology to prosecute them, and they should await a court order,” Elahi said, explaining the directive.
SSF Chief in Lorestan then refers to the fourth part of this directive, boasting about an “extensive operation by the Revolutionary Guards and the Ministry of Intelligence, both online and in public places.”
Why is Khamenei reinforcing his misogynic orders against women?
In addition, Khamenei’s plainclothes agents have stepped up harassing women under the pretext of “promoting virtue and preventing vice.”
Meanwhile, the clerical regime has resumed systematic chemical attacks against mostly all-girls schools.
“Over 1300 students and parents have been admitted to hospitals. But not even an official pathology report, a sampling report of schools by the inactive defense, or even an official report of the various committees responsible for investigating the issue has been published,” the state-run Etemad daily wrote on April 11.
The possibility that Khamenei’s plan certainly backfires has caused much stir in the regime.
“We warned last year about social turmoil in the form of a riot. It happened in September. Now, officials’ measures are paving the way for another general riot,” the state-run Khabaronline website warned on April 10.
The misogynous regime has several objectives increasing pressure on women. First, it attempts to intimidate women, who play a leading role in the nationwide uprising.
Second, the clerical regime aims to detract the uprising from its main cause aiming for regime change by trying to posture that the Iranian people’s demands are limited to some basic rights and overwhelm a restive society with the task of protecting itself from these poisonings and push aside serious popular demands and grievances, such as rampant poverty and lack of freedom.
Third, by trying to portray the current struggle in Iran as a fight between “Islam” and “apostates,” Khamenei can better rally his demoralized forces and boost their morale.
The regime’s misogynous actions further lay bare the system’s weakness. If the authorities’ “strength” and “popularity” rhetoric is real, why would they use military force to impose the mandatory veiling?
On April 11, Mrs. Maryam Rajavi, the president-elect of the National Council of Resistance of Iran (NCRI), in this regard said: “Khamenei, the mullahs’ bloodthirsty supreme leader, has crossed a new threshold of cruelty and demagoguery in his desperate attempt to stifle dissent and prevent Iran protests. However, his efforts will be in vain, for Iranian women, girls, and youth have vowed to rise up against this brutal regime and overthrow it.”
Today, the clerical regime has launched more #IranChemicalAttacks on innocent schoolgirls in multiple cities, including Shahinshahr, Kermanshah, Isfahan, Urmia, Tabriz, and Bandar Genaveh. The regime's depravity in continuing this horrific crime is especially appalling given the…
— Maryam Rajavi (@Maryam_Rajavi) April 11, 2023
The history of Iran and its resistance movement proves that women will not bow to pressure. The regime’s efforts to subdue women will only make them more determined to reclaim their rights and their rightful place in Iran’s society.