A Member of the Thirteenth Government Claims Ibrahim Raisi Opposed the Crackdown on Girls Regarding Hijab

Ibrahim Raisi's special assistant for "Pursuing Rights and Social Freedoms" has announced that the approach of women and girls regarding optional hijab had become a concern for Ibrahim Raisi, who expressed worry about the situation, saying: "How long can we continue to detain 17 or 18-year-old girls? How many of these do we want to arrest? How many cases do we want to file against them?" This claim comes at a time when various reports have documented Raisi's speeches in the months leading up to his death, where he repeatedly emphasized that "the hijab enforcement will also be ended, so do not worry." Ibrahim Raisi, who has always been listed among the human rights violators in the Islamic Republic due to his involvement in widespread political and ideological executions in the early years of the revolution, had taken measures after being appointed as president, including reissuing the Supreme Cultural Revolution Council's decrees on "chastity and hijab" and stressing their strict implementation. Sekineh Pād, who was part of Raisi's government for over a year, considered the hijab issue one of the red lines of the presidential office and told Khabaronline that "there were some in the government who lacked political understanding, and some opinions and decisions regarding hijab by certain gentlemen in the government had no basis in the constitution or even in Sharia." In this detailed interview, this member of the thirteenth government has attempted to portray Ibrahim Raisi as a supporter of critics of the hijab enforcement in Iran and has spoken about Raisi's alignment with her "critical" views during her time in the government. Sekineh Pād pointed out that the Islamic Republic has long "tolerated" the violation of the full hijab and emphasized: "We have long since crossed that Sharia framework, meaning the complete hijab." The special assistant's reference to the public's attitude towards hijab indicates that "we no longer speak of the Sharia hijab because we have long since passed that point, and the system has tolerated this for a long time and we no longer discuss it at all." Sekineh Pād, implicitly criticizing the government, stated that "if the government is wise," it knows how to deal with women as an important and desirable element that constitutes half of society and has given birth to and raised the other half, to resolve many of its issues based on this understanding. This member of Ibrahim Raisi's government also stated that "women's dignity" is not respected in the Islamic Republic. Sekineh Pād emphasized regarding the current approach towards women: "This path cannot continue; we cannot proceed down this road." The special assistant to the president also announced that women's dignity is not respected and that all responsible agencies in the field of chastity and hijab only receive budgets and do not take any action. Pād, referring to the nationwide protests in 2022, emphasized that "the dignity of the people has been violated in many places."