Friday Prayer Leaders Start the New Year with Attacks on Women's Dress Code; Qom Friday Prayer Leader Issues Directive Against 'Unveiling'

The Friday prayer leaders appointed by the Supreme Leader of the Islamic Republic focused on the issue of women's dress code in their first official speeches from Friday prayer platforms in the new year, calling for a 'deterrent' response to women who unveil. Mohammad Saeedi, the Friday prayer leader of Qom, whose account of the moment of Ali Khamenei's birth remains among the 'strange speeches' of government clerics, urged the people of Qom, responsible agencies, and families to take 'decisive and educational' action against 'the unveiling of women' as part of their 'duty.' Fallahati, Khamenei's representative in Gilan province, also considered hijab as part of the 'values of society' and stated, 'Enemies are targeting the values of society and issues such as hijab and chastity, enjoining good and forbidding wrong, the guardianship of the jurist, and clergy to damage the system and create a gap between the people and officials.' While he speaks of an imaginary enemy aiming to undermine hijab and enjoining good, in the final days of the year 1402, the land-grabbing case of Kazem Sedighi, head of the enjoining good and forbidding wrong headquarters, topped the news and was even criticized by loyalists of the Islamic Republic. Mousavi-Fard, Khamenei's representative in Khuzestan, also regarded hijab as 'one of the red lines of the Imam of the Time' and said, 'The West is planning to mislead the people of Iran, starting with women; therefore, officials must fulfill their duties in this regard; the people should not be indifferent and should warn unveiled women and get used to this action.' Ali Khamenei, the Supreme Leader of the Islamic Republic, stated in the spring of 1402, coinciding with the widespread wave of women's freedom-seeking in Iran regarding their choice of dress, that we will never compromise on the issue of hijab and consider it one of our principles. Sociologist Saeed Peyvandi stated on March 15 to VOA that the Islamic Republic has linked the issue of hijab to its authority, and when women do not comply with this demand, they are essentially questioning the authority of the government. A statement from 17 religious reformists declared: 'The Islamic Republic is responsible for the health of Sediqeh Voseqi.' Reactions to Khamenei's naming for the new year; users: 'More poverty is on the way.' Sediqeh Voseqi refused to attend the Revolutionary Court: Defense in this 'kangaroo court' has no meaning. Dozens of human rights organizations and groups have called for the extension of UN human rights missions regarding Iran. The final report of Javaid Rehman to the UN Human Rights Council; alarming human rights situation and a 43% increase in executions in Iran. Reactions to 'the beating of the police and supporters of compulsory hijab'; criticism of discrimination in dealing with protest gatherings.