Guardian Council: The 'Chastity and Hijab' Bill Approved and in the Hands of Parliament

The spokesperson for the Guardian Council, after several weeks of delay, confirmed the news from some members of the Islamic Consultative Assembly, stating that the bill known as 'Chastity and Hijab' has been approved by this governing council and is now in the hands of Parliament. Tahan Nazif said on Saturday, October 20, during a press conference in response to reporters' questions regarding the accuracy of the published news: 'During this time, several members of Parliament informed about this matter, and there was no need for this issue.' Mr. Nazif did not explain why official communication from the Guardian Council on this matter was deemed unnecessary. He also refrained from answering reporters regarding the enforceability of this bill, stating: 'Our area of involvement is where there is a contradiction with Sharia and the Constitution.' The spokesperson for the Guardian Council confirmed this news while Ahmad Rastin, the spokesperson for the Cultural Commission of Parliament, and Moussa Ghazanfari Abadi, a member of the Legal and Judicial Commission of Parliament, announced earlier in October that the aforementioned bill, which had been going back and forth between Parliament and the Guardian Council for a long time, has been approved by this council. The unofficial announcement of the approval of this bill was enough to provoke significant reactions on social media. Reactions to the news of the 'Approval of the Hijab Bill' in the Guardian Council; 'Hello to Gender Apartheid' Some users on social media raised the issue of 'gender apartheid' in Iran, which has been brought up by several political prisoners, including Narges Mohammadi, a Nobel Peace Prize winner, and others accused Masoud Pezeshkian and his government of demagoguery. Masoud Pezeshkian referred to the police's 'Light' plan for dealing with opponents of compulsory hijab as 'Darkness' during his electoral campaign and called for respectful treatment of women. In his first press conference, when the issue of the morality police's actions was raised again, the President's response was: 'Are they bothering again? Because it was not supposed to bother. We will follow up to ensure they do not bother.' Some of Masoud Pezeshkian's supporters expected that, given his electoral promises regarding women's dignity and his statements in this press conference, this bill would also remain silent. The Islamic Consultative Assembly approved the 'Chastity and Hijab' bill on September 20, 2023, one year after the death of Mahsa Zhina Amini in the custody of the morality police and the beginning of the protests of the 'Women, Life, Freedom' movement, which includes numerous and heavy penalties for opponents of compulsory hijab, after it was finalized in a special commission under Article 85 of the Constitution. On that day, the representatives of Parliament voted that this bill would be implemented in an 'experimental' manner for three years, and the finalized text in the Judicial and Legal Commission was sent to the Guardian Council.