Iranian Women’s Full-Fledged Resistance, Despite Heavy Price, Defeats Repressive Campaign to Impose Mandatory Hijab
In April, a new wave of crackdowns on women in Iran emerged under the pretext of enforcing mandatory hijab regulations. The reappearance of Guidance Patrols on the streets, coupled with the brutal arrest and beating of women, sparked protests even from factions within the regime. This escalation of repression followed statements by the mullahs’ supreme leader, Ali Khamenei, on April 3rd and 10th, 2024. In these statements, Khamenei emphasized hijab as a “religious and legal obligation,” urging all “officials, citizens, and promoters of virtue” to fulfill their duty in enforcing it.
Following Khamenei’s directive, the commander of the State Security Force announced that, beginning April 13th, enforcement against women not adhering to the mandatory hijab would be significantly intensified in all public areas. Subsequently, representatives of Khamenei acknowledged during Friday prayers that the hijab issue posed a security threat to the regime and could potentially lead to its overthrow.
Mrs. Maryam Rajavi declared, “Fearing the uprisings and engulfed in multiple crises, Ali Khamenei has once again resorted to enforcing the compulsory veil as a means to suppress women who have been at the forefront of the struggle against this oppressive regime.”
She added, “The objective is to suppress the entire society and thwart any potential uprising. However, it is too late for this regime. The people of Iran, especially the defiant youth and women, are determined to overthrow it. The regime has reached its breaking point, and no level of repression, arrests, torture, executions, or warmongering can salvage it.”
Now, at the end of April, in less than three weeks and after paying a heavy price, Iranian women and the people of Iran, through their resistance and defiance against the violation of women’s right to freely choose their clothing, have succeeded in defeating the regime’s new mobilization and crackdown, forcing it to retreat.
MASSIVE TROOP MOBILIZATION ECHOING THE DAYS OF THE 2022 UPRISING
The clerical regime’s campaigns to impose the mandatory hijab on Iranian women have consistently been manifestations of state-sponsored violence against Iranian women and girls. In this latest crackdown, launched under the pretext of combatting “improper veiling” and “hijab removal,” regime officials admitted that at least 32 ministries and government institutions should be involved in enforcing mandatory hijab regulations, rather than relying solely on the State Security Force (SSF).
However, in the recent campaign code-named the “Noor Plan (Light),” beatings and violence against women reached unprecedented levels.
The massive deployment of troops by the regime mirrored the scenes from the 2022 uprising. Special unit motorcyclists and protest suppression vehicles aimed to instill fear by moving in groups throughout the streets. Like the events of the uprising, security forces operated in coordinated groups, attacking individuals in clusters of 10 to 15 people. Plainclothes agents remained omnipresent, engaging in the most egregious forms of misconduct, their actions going unattributed to any official institution or agency, but attributed to common people.
At subway stations, most uniformed officers were observed taking pictures of women who were not wearing the mandatory hijab. In a report from the Tajrish metro station in Tehran, metro security unit officers warned women to wear hijab, and police even conducted purse searches at the entrance.
The SSF, in collaboration with intelligence agencies, compelled over 100 business center managers to sign a letter of commitment. These managers were then instructed to broadcast announcements about the necessity of wearing hijab through the complex’s loudspeakers and install advertising boards promoting mandatory hijab observance at the complex’s entrance.
On the first day of this initiative, at least 500 women were arrested in Tehran. (The state-run Etemad Daily, April 18, 2024)
The Women’s Committee of the National Council of Resistance of Iran issued a call on April 11, urging the women and men of Iran to firmly resist and stand against the new wave of oppression by the mullahs’ regime. The NCRI Women’s Committee also appealed to international organizations, particularly the UN special rapporteur on violence against women, to condemn the clerical regime’s misogynistic actions.
STATE-SPONSORED VIOLENCE AGAINST WOMEN AND GIRLS IN THE STREETS
Detained women described scenes of arrest involving beatings, insults, and sexual harassment. Officers were reported to use stun guns and batons, and even incite physical conflict.
A young woman shared a picture of her bruised arms. In an audio clip on X, she expressed her ordeal: “I feel terrible. I can’t even talk. Today, they caught me outside the metro station. Since I had already given two written commitments, they forced me to write a third one. They flogged me. They beat me up. They hit me on the head so many times and pulled my hair. I feel terrible.”
In Tehran, a 17-year-old girl was forcefully arrested and taken away on Valiasr street, near the Abbas Abad intersection. She was seen crying while clutching the railings along the street. A female officer punched her hand, while a male officer forcibly opened her fist and dragged her into a van by pulling her hair.
In another report, it was mentioned that a woman suffered a ruptured kidney when an officer kicked her in the back.
On Karim Khan Blvd., a woman was violently arrested for not wearing the mandatory hijab. Initially, she was surrounded by plainclothes agents, but after she resisted and passers-by protested, uniformed police officers intervened, subjected her to abuse, beatings, and then transferred her to a van.
Another woman was arrested by plainclothes agents on Alvand Street. The man who was accompanying her and objected to the actions of the plainclothes agents was also arrested. Simultaneously, police officers dispersed passers-by and confiscated mobile phones to prevent them from taking pictures of the scene.
A woman said, “After receiving a warning about my shawl, it wasn’t even a minute before I heard the screams of a young woman. A woman wearing a chador (a black head-to-toe veil) and an SSF officer dragged the girl out of the mall and forced her into a van. It was a horrifying scene.”
In a video shared on social media, a man displayed his wife’s battered body and lamented, “Are you trying to scare us with the Israeli war? Every day, we endure worse than war on the streets. They dragged my wife to the ground because of her hijab, stole her watch, and took her gold.”
In the city of Fuman in Gilan province, located in northern Iran, a 14-year-old girl was arrested. When people protested, authorities attempted to disperse the protesters by firing shots into the air.
In the Azimieh district of the city of Karaj, Guidance Patrol agents arrested a 12-year-old girl. They refused to allow the child’s mother to accompany her onto the police van and took the girl to the detention center alone.
Dina Ghalibaf, a journalist, and student activist wrote on the X social network that she was arrested at the Sadeghieh metro station for disobeying the officers’ order to comply with the mandatory hijab. She reported being subdued with a Taser gun and subjected to beatings, accompanied by sexual assault. After a few hours, she was released. The next day, she was arrested at her home and transferred to Evin prison due to publishing the story of her violent arrest and sexual assault by officers.
INTENSIFYING PRESSURE ON FEMALE UNIVERSITY AND HIGH SCHOOL STUDENTS
The newsletter of Amirkabir University, dated April 20, 2024, reported that security and repressive encounters with the university’s students had reached their highest level in the last ten years.
Security officers of the university prevented over 20 (female) students from entering through one entrance alone due to “undesirable” clothing. Similar situations occurred at other entrances of Amirkabir University.
The university’s security announced the mandatory wearing of chador as a condition for girls entering the university. They instructed the girls to either put on chadors available at the gate and proceed or return.
Al-Zahra University, previously equipped with facial recognition cameras at entrances and exits, tightened control over students with the implementation of the Noor Plan. Images depicting long queues forming in front of the university’s entrance gate circulated on social media.
Additionally, the Telegram channel of Vanguard Students (Pishro) reported sending threatening text messages to students of Malayer University, western Iran.
UNIVERSITY STUDENTS BOYCOTT CLASSES
After preventing at least 200 students from entering Amirkabir University due to “improper clothing,” the university students initiated a strike and boycotted classes.
On Sunday and Monday, April 21st and 22nd, 2024, over 200 students of Amirkabir University went on strike, refusing to attend classes in protest of the repressive actions of the security forces targeting students’ clothing in recent days.
The strike initially began in the faculties of computer engineering, energy engineering, industrial engineering, textile engineering, and computer science mathematics. Additionally, a significant number of classes in the faculties of medical engineering, chemical engineering, marine engineering, and mining engineering were also affected, with many not being held.
VIOLATING THE DIGNITY OF FEMALE HIGH SCHOOL STUDENTS
On April 20, in a boarding high school for girls in Dalgan County, located in Sistan and Baluchistan Province in southeastern Iran, the school principal lined up 12th-grade Baloch girls and cut their pants in front of their classmates, alleging that their pants were too tight. (Haalvsh.org, April 21, 2024)
Additionally, a deputy from the Ministry of Education announced the implementation of 16 chastity and hijab plans in 600,000 girls’ schools. (The state-run Asr Iran Daily, April 25, 2024)
On April 15, the Vice-Chancellor of a secondary school in District 1 of Sanandaj, the capital of Kurdistan province, warned students and teachers that failure to observe the mandatory hijab will result in fines for the students’ families.
In another school in Sanandaj, the school’s security personnel have warned teachers that non-compliance with the mandatory hijab, even outside the school premises such as in streets and parks, will affect the official employment status of teachers working on contract.
OFFICIAL MEASURES TO IMPOSE THE MANDATORY HIJAB ARE ILLEGAL
The actions of the State Security Force, which involve sending guidance patrols to the streets and attacking women and girls, beating, and arresting them, are illegal even according to the laws of the clerical regime itself.
There is no law mandating compulsory hijab in the mullahs’ regime. The bill proposing mandatory hijab, which has been under consideration in the parliament since last year, has not yet been approved by the Guardian Council. Therefore, implementing measures such as using facial recognition technology, confiscating cars, sending millions of text messages, and issuing unconventional sentences such as imprisonment, exile, washing the dead, cleaning public places, and imposing heavy fines for violators has been and continues to be a completely illegal action even according to the laws of the Iranian regime.
Furthermore, according to the regime’s own criminology and criminal law experts, the actions of the State Security Force (SSF) regarding impounding cars, obtaining pledges from individuals regarding the hijab issue, sealing shops, preventing people from being in public places, and sending text messages have no legal basis. All these actions are considered illegal.
The SSF does not even have the authority to issue verbal warnings in these matters. Entities such as the regime’s Security Council, the Headquarters mandated with promoting virtue and forbidding evil, the Headquarters to implement hijab and chastity, and the Minister of the Interior are not legislative bodies and therefore cannot establish legal rights and obligations for individuals, institutions, and businesses.
The State Security Force (SSF) only has the authority to present individuals to the court and nothing beyond that. It is crucial to note that the SSF lacks the authority to arrest people or detain women and girls in police stations or headquarters. (The state-run Roozno.com website, April 14, 2024)
“Detaining women and girls in such places against their will constitutes the crime of illegal detention, punishable by one to three years of imprisonment according to Article 583 of the Penal Code.” (Dadban Legal Consultants Group account, Saturday, April 13, 2024)
MULLAHS’ ABUSE OF RELIGION
In his speech, Ali Khamenei, the mullahs’ supreme leader, declared that “Hijab is an absolute rule of Sharia and cannot be overlooked.” These statements perpetuate the pattern of religious manipulation initiated by Khomeini to enforce compulsory hijab and suppress women; a practice ongoing since 1979.
“In contrast, in 1987, the National Council of Resistance of Iran (NCRI) endorsed its “Plan on Women’s Rights and Freedoms,” emphasizing women’s right to freely choose their clothing. Mrs. Maryam Rajavi has consistently stressed in her speeches that anything forced, imposed, or pressured has no basis in Islam. As stated in the Quran, “there is no compulsion in religion.”
In her International Women’s Day speech in March 2024, Mrs. Rajavi urged Iranian women and girls to echo the slogan “No to compulsory hijab, no to imposed religion, and no to compulsory government” across Iran and the entire world.
It should also be emphasized that nowhere in Islam is it permissible to assault, arrest, beat, or kill a woman because of her hijab. Such inhumane actions are contrary to Islam and Muslim principles. According to all human rights laws and religious doctrines, the right to choose one’s clothing is a fundamental individual choice, and no person or authority has the right to impose a particular type of clothing on any woman.
HUMAN RIGHTS DEFENDERS CONDEMN SEXUAL APARTHEID AND CRIMES AGAINST HUMANITY IN IRAN
The UN Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights in Iran, Professor Javaid Rehman, highlighted in his report to the 55th session of the UN Human Rights Council the persistent enforcement of draconian laws and practices that perpetuate gender apartheid, severely violating the rights and dignity of Iranian women and girls. These practices include enforced veiling policies, gender-discriminatory legislation, and state agencies monitoring women’s dress and behavior.
Moreover, Rehman condemned the prevalence of violence against women and girls, facilitated by misogynistic laws and practices. He pointed out that despite international outcry, perpetrators of such violence often evade accountability, contributing to a cycle of impunity.
The International Fact-Finding Mission also reported an increase in penalties for non-compliance, amidst a broader campaign of harassment, intimidation, surveillance, and violence against women and girls who publicly defy such norms and their supporters, particularly men.
Amnesty International published a detailed report containing testimonies by 46 women and men describing the restrictions and pressure imposed on them by the campaign to enforce compulsory veiling. Amnesty described the testimonies as providing “a frightening glimpse into the Iranian authorities’ intensifying persecution of women and girls, designed to wear down their courageous resistance to the country’s abusive, degrading, and discriminatory compulsory veiling laws.”
According to Amnesty International, the victims were targeted solely for exercising their rights to bodily autonomy and freedom of expression, religion, and belief through their defiance of compulsory veiling laws. The report compiled facts and testimonies since January 2023, in which women and girls faced police stops, criminal prosecution, and other abuses resulting in arbitrary car confiscations, fines, forced “morality” classes, as well as flogging, imprisonment sentences, and threats. Many were denied access to education, employment, public transport, and other public services.
These human rights authorities censured the regime for its discrimination against women and violation of their rights, some of which amount to crimes against humanity.
THE STATE-SPONSORED CRACKDOWN ON WOMEN FAILED IN ITS OBJECTIVES
Like the previous year, the clerical regime has failed in its brutal campaign to impose hijab on Iranian women and girls. The State Security Force (SSF) command of the regime’s oppressive police force announced on April 23rd that the “Light Plan” will transition towards AI-driven methods.
During Friday prayers on April 26th, the regime resorted to a public display of gratitude towards the State Security Force in response to strong social reactions against its brutal actions targeting innocent women and girls in the streets and city squares.
The imposition of mandatory hijab serves as a cornerstone of the regime’s repression, alongside its continuous executions, making it an essential element the regime cannot afford to abandon. As admitted by Saeedi, Khamenei’s representative, during Qom’s Friday Prayers on April 13th, any passivity in enforcing women’s hijab would be seen by the enemy as an opportunity to carry out its “plan to overthrow” the regime. This underscores the security and political significance of the hijab issue for the regime.
Iranian women’s demands extend beyond mere clothing choices; they seek the realization of their human rights and those of all Iranian citizens through regime change and the overthrow of the misogynistic mullahs’ regime.
The rallying cry of Iranian women is “women, resistance, freedom.” They actively join the Resistance Units, organize themselves, and prepare to lead the final uprising to overthrow the regime.
The freedom-loving people of the world stand in solidarity with the women and people of Iran, recognizing their noble quest and struggle for freedom.
