Ansieh Khazali Confirms 'Authorization' of Hijab Enforcers, Claims: 'We Were Not Invited to Ministry of Interior Hijab Meetings'

Ansieh Khazali, the 'Deputy for Women and Family Affairs' in Ebrahim Raisi's government and daughter of Abolqasem Khazali, in an unprecedented interview on Tuesday, August 1, acknowledged the 'authorization of hijab enforcers' and stated that in any government, 'the Minister of Interior and his subordinates can decide on the methods to combat hijab violations.' In this video interview with the 'Didban' website, Khazali described the actions of girls who participated in the Ashura ceremony in Karaj without mandatory hijab as a 'plot and plan,' distancing the 'Women’s Affairs Deputy' from the repression of women opposing mandatory hijab, and smilingly stated: 'We were not invited to the Ministry of Interior hijab meetings; most men made decisions for women!' In another contradictory response to whether 'women who remind others about hijab in the metro can prevent women with improper hijab from entering the metro,' she said, 'They probably can and must have the authorization to do this. Yes, they probably have received authorization.' This comes while the 'Minister of Interior of the Islamic Republic' claimed, 'We do not have hijab enforcers,' asserting that what the Islamic Republic calls popular forces are not agents of the Ministry of Interior. Khazali responded to the question of whether the approach of the morality police towards hijab and hijab violations depends on the government in power by saying, 'It is effective who the Minister of Interior is; it may not be influential overall, but it is effective in the approach.' Ansieh Khazali, who is in the final days of overseeing the highest 'women's policy-making institution in the Islamic Republic,' never acknowledged the murder of Mahsa Zhina Amini during the 'Women, Life, Freedom' movement and nationwide protests in 2022. Now, in this interview, expressing ignorance about the systematic presence of hijab enforcers in the city, she says, 'As far as I know, we were told that they are popular forces managing such programs. Many popular forces are in various sectors, in parks and in different environments.' Regarding the question of 'why the hijab enforcers have a uniform appearance and the viewer feels they are coordinated,' she replied, 'You should ask the Ministry of Interior about this.' She also expressed ignorance about the content of the Ministry of Interior meetings regarding the repression of women opposing mandatory hijab, adding, 'Usually, the relevant task force had no female members. We protested several times there, and I heard that once or twice, women were eventually invited to these meetings.'