Due to the publication of images of some employees without hijab; the 'Taqche' platform is under pressure from government institutions

Continuing the Islamic Republic's pressure on opponents of mandatory hijab, a book-related organization has come under pressure from government-affiliated entities to shut down due to the publication of images of its employees without mandatory covering on social media. Hamid Khalili, the director of 'Shahid Kazemi Publishing', an organization close to the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, announced in a letter to Amir Hossein Latifi, the director of the 'Taqche' platform, that this publishing house no longer has 'legal and religious legitimacy' to continue cooperation with them and will 'terminate the existing contract.' This publishing manager, affiliated with government institutions, stated in an interview with the Islamic Republic's state television about the reason for the 'termination of cooperation' that a picture of the employees of the 'Taqche' platform was published on social media showing 'women without hijab.' Taqche, a product of 'Golden Idea Contemporary Intelligent Services Company', is a digital platform for users to access audio versions of books and publications that have been authorized for publication and ISBN in Iran. On the other hand, a source informed to the Persian section of 'Voice of America' stated that the actions against this platform were carried out 'in a coordinated and targeted manner' and several publishing houses affiliated with various government sectors have announced 'non-cooperation' with Taqche. According to him, 'numerous calls' were made by individuals and groups of a 'specific current' to several publishing houses and other service providers to join the list of 'non-cooperation' with this platform and similar non-governmental businesses due to 'not adhering to religious and legal decorum by female employees.' Meanwhile, Mohammad Mahdi Esmaeili, the Minister of Culture of the Islamic Republic, also reacted to this issue, referring to similar cases of government action against opponents of mandatory hijab in the fields of culture and art, stating that the 'Center for the Development of Culture and Art in Cyberspace' is responsible for addressing the issue of the Taqche platform. In recent days, the holding of the 13th Short Film Academy Awards of Iran (ISFA) was also halted by direct order from the Minister of Culture and Islamic Guidance. The public relations statement from the Ministry of Culture and Islamic Guidance mentioned that the reason for this incident was the 'incompatibility of the poster of the 13th edition of this event with hijab law'; the content of the poster featured a photo of 'Sousan Taslimi', a well-known Iranian cinema actress in the film 'The Death of Yazdgerd.' The administrative building of the online sales platform 'Digikala' was also temporarily sealed by the Islamic Republic's police on Sunday, August 1, due to 'the hijab of female employees.' The sealing of the Digikala administrative building occurred after the Mizan news agency, affiliated with the judiciary, reported on Saturday night, July 31, the formation of 'a legal case regarding the hijab of female employees in one of Digikala's sections.' In recent months, cultural, law enforcement, and security agencies of the Islamic Republic have increased their actions to reduce the volume of widespread protests and break the civil resistance of Iranian women against mandatory hijab. Nevertheless, numerous reports of continued civil disobedience by opponents of mandatory hijab are published every day. Humiliation of women to impose mandatory hijab is approaching the anniversary of the killing of Mahsa Amini. One of the rulings related to hijab was violated; the Supreme Court: the court's reasoning is incorrect. New details from the 'Chastity and Hijab' bill; women, media affiliates, and merchants are at risk of accusations. Tajzadeh: Khamenei is responsible for the return of the morality police. A strange directive from the Baharestan investigator: journalists must file cases in welfare and forensic medicine. A request from a member of the Assembly of Experts to deal with 'non-hijab wearers'; Iran: heavy fines are on the way.