Dozens of Civil Activists and Political Prisoners: The Government's War Against Women's Hair Aims to Create Fear and Terror Among the People

Dozens of civil activists and political prisoners condemned in a statement the 'war of the government' against the people in the streets and the 'arrests and military mobilization of heavily armed forces against the hair and bodies of women.' Among the signatories of this statement, a copy of which was obtained by Voice of America on Wednesday, May 5, are Narges Mohammadi, Sepideh Ghalean, Sedigheh Vosoughi, Rasoul Badaghi, Reza Shahabi, Zartosht Ahmadiraghab, Aliyeh Matlabeza, Abdollah Momeni, Faezah Hashemi, Keyvan Samimi, Giti Pourfazel, Monireh Arabshahi, Mahvash Sabet, Mostafa Tajzadeh, Mohammad Habibi, and dozens of others. Other signatories include Atefeh Chaharmahalian, Ahmadreza Haeri, Ismail Abdi, Amir Salar Davoodi, Pouran Nazemi, Jafar Azimzadeh, Hossein Razagh, Dayeh Sharifeh Hosseinpanahi, Raheleh Ahmadi, Zhila Makvandi, Sara Siyahpour, Soran Lotfi, Shahnaz Akmali, Saba Shirdoust, Sadra Abdollahi, Alireza Behnam, Fakhri Shadfar, Golrokh Iraei, Masoud Farhikhteh, Mehdi Mahmoudian, Mehran Raoof, and Vida Rabani. The signatories of the statement say that the aim of the simultaneous 'increased likelihood of war' with the presence of patrol forces and a police atmosphere in the streets is to create 'fear and terror' among the people. They also condemned the 'continuation of the sinister display of the abuse of coercive forces for maximum intimidation of the people and activists' and the 'instrumental use of mandatory hijab' to impose 'hostile insistence on the uniformity of individuals' lifestyles.' This statement points out that the 'mismanagement and systematic corruption of the government' has turned people's lives into a 'black hole of misery, anxiety, uncertainty, and continuous disorder,' stating that 'the remarks of activists about mandatory hijab and the narration of the oppression faced by women in Iran are met with costs such as summons, arrests, and various pressures.' The signatories emphasized that the 'Iranian society is still seeking justice for the young protesters who were killed' and warned that 'the government continues to beat the drum of war against the people in the streets' while simultaneously isolating and limiting the people comprehensively, using any excuse to 'inflict new wounds and scars on the society filled with resentment and anger in Iran.' The political and civil activists who signed the statement strongly condemned the 'inhumane and illegal actions of the government and the misogynistic confrontation with the brave individuals who stand against the pressure of tyranny in their homes and streets.' In the final section of this statement, the signatories, some of whom have been imprisoned for years, expressed hope that despite such repression, Iranian women and men 'will not refrain from striving to free society from the clutches of tyranny and oppression' and that the Islamic Republic, by continuing to treat the people as slaves, 'will only add to its own decline, regression, and political deadlocks day by day.' Previously, Narges Mohammadi, a human rights defender and Nobel Peace Prize winner who is imprisoned in Evin, emphasized in a message published on her Instagram account on April 18 that 'the Islamic Republic, out of desperation, has turned the streets into a battlefield against women and youth to alleviate the incurable pain of its illegitimacy and the collapse of its authority through intimidation and terror, and to heal the weakness and absurdity of its claims on the global stage through vulgar domination and bullying within.' She praised the steadfastness of women and their civil disobedience against the mandatory hijab and the anti-women policies of the Islamic Republic, adding, 'The courageous resistance of the proud women of Iran in the streets of cities and the continuation of civil disobedience have numbered the breaths of religious tyranny. The street belongs to us, and victory is our inevitable destiny.' Since Saturday, April 14, coinciding with a large-scale airstrike on Israel, the Islamic Republic has launched a wave of repression against optional dress for women within the country and has significantly deployed government forces in cities across Iran. Some observers say that although the deployment of these forces under the title 'Noor Plan' by the police command is aimed at enforcing mandatory hijab, it may also be intended to prevent the possibility of widespread protests. The government's interference in the lifestyle of Iranians and the repression of women's right to choose their attire has faced a wave of protests, and the hashtag 'War Against Women' has gone viral on social media.