On Saturday, April 13, and Sunday, April 15, the main nucleus of power in the Islamic Republic simultaneously ignited two fiercer fires. The war with Israel and the war with women who opt for free dress and their supporters. Among these wars, the second war is more fundamental and its survival depends on winning it.
On April 3, Khamenei, in the Eid al-Fitr sermons, once again called mandatory hijab “a religious commandment” and provoked the authorities to take action against the duties of “to promote virtue”. He said that even women who do not believe in the Sharia law must observe mandatory hijab because it is legal. This is while the “Chastity and Hijab” bill has not been passed into law in the lawless Islamic regime. According to people’s opinion based on the results of a survey by Shargh Network, affiliated with Shargh newspaper, in October-September, 84% of the people opposed obliging women to observe hijab.
Following Khamenei’s order, 30 agencies responsible for implementing the “Chastity and Hijab” plan took action. Among them, law enforcement forces acted as the executive arm, and the agents of severe repression in the hands of the judiciary and the presidential cabinet showed more aggression. They presented a practical plan called “Project Light” and according to it, they issued extremely harsh statements in various cities starting from Friday, 23rd of Farvardin, announcing that they will intensify all their failed previous measures related to mandatory hijab from Saturday, 25th of Farvardin. According to available reports on this day, morality police, active Basij members, plainclothes, loafers, and hijab enforcers demonstrated themselves in major cities, especially in Tehran, like moths and mosquitoes on the streets. Reports from the militarized Kurdistan region indicate that besides the morality police, special forces had a significant presence. Stringency regarding female students and their supporters, who are more disobedient, was also intensified, explicitly through their guidelines and harsh performance by their vigilant guards. A considerable number of women continued to disobey in various ways against the existing regulations.
After the attack on the Iranian consulate in Damascus by Israeli aircraft in early April, Khamenei and some of the country’s officials and military personnel began reciting incantations. Khamenei said that Israel would regret its actions. He repeated his threat in the Eid al-Fitr sermon and said that Israel would be punished. But alongside that, he did not forget the attack on free and emancipated women. Because he is in this arena of war that has been struck and lost so far and will lose again. Smart and militant women, along with their supporters, showed brave resistance against the onslaught of the authorities in these few days. Several clashes between women and morality police occurred in Tajrish Square. The morality police in this square tried to detain dozens of women with optional dress and their male supporters violently, which was met with protest. A user described his observations on Valiasr Street about the “horrific” arrest of a 17-year-old girl for opposing mandatory hijab and resisting the thugs, saying that “more than 20 people cursed the rioters with disgraceful shouts!” According to a report by a reporter, a few hours after the start of the implementation of the “Light” plan on Saturday, April 13, high school students in Tehran were given the day off and a crowd of students without mandatory hijab came to the streets. Girls who ignored the authorities and morality police lived their youth and the authorities did not dare to confront them. It is worth noting that, according to a citizen, some of the police officers present on the streets were not willing to confront and arrest women opposed to mandatory hijab, and for this reason, they fired one or two members of the Revolutionary Guards.
The reality is that the Islamic Republic has practically imposed mandatory hijab as the cornerstone of its survival, a survival that is at risk. The clerical and military leaders of the regime have seen it as necessary, from an ideological standpoint, to suppress women’s struggles and disobedience at any cost, considering the pioneering role of women in political and social struggles, which peaked during the Women’s Revolution. Because the women’s movement has kept its own space for struggles alive in society and has been inspiring for advocacy struggles, it must be understood that these days, the women’s movement and emancipated women have emerged as the main front of struggle between the regime and freedom-seekers. Therefore, the duties of all leaders of social movements and all freedom-seekers are to multiply their support for the women’s movement and every single activist and emancipated woman in it, and to play a greater role in defeating the regime repeatedly in this field.
