Controversial Presence of Young Girls Without Mandatory Hijab at Ashura Mourning; Police Summoned Them

Following the release of images showing girls without mandatory hijab participating in mourning processions for Muharram in Karaj, the police chief of Alborz province announced that these individuals were 'identified' and 'summoned.' As mourning processions related to Ashura began in Iran, a video circulated on social media showing teenage girls participating in the chain-beating rituals without mandatory hijab. In response to this report, Hamid Hedayat, the police chief of Alborz province, labeled these teenage girls as 'norm violators' and 'offenders of sanctity' for their presence in the mourning procession without adhering to the Islamic Republic's mandatory hijab. He claimed that their presence without hijab in the Ashura mourning procession was a 'disrespect' to Shia religious figures, which the police would 'not tolerate' and would take action against them. Concurrently, another video showed a number of citizens in Hamedan attempting to free two young girls who had been detained by morality police on Ashura under the pretext of mandatory hijab. The ongoing pressure from the Islamic Republic officials on women to comply with the government's mandatory hijab comes despite some religious figures stating that adherence to it is not obligatory according to Islamic law. For instance, Sediqeh Vosoughi, an Islamic scholar, described the government's struggle against the 'majority of people's' demand for freedom of dress as 'a futile political game' and emphasized that women will end this game through their resistance. This Islamic scholar and human rights activist blamed Ali Khamenei, the leader of the Islamic Republic and commander-in-chief, along with subordinate commanders, as the main culprits of violence and hostility regarding the hijab issue, viewing the actions of the judiciary, police, and other government-affiliated forces concerning hijab as 'an invitation to violence.'