Increased Criticism of the 'Tunnel of Terror' by Hijab Enforcers and Rejection of Their 'Spontaneous' Claims

A number of users and political and cultural activists have criticized the creation of a 'Tunnel of Terror' by hijab enforcers in Tehran's metro and the statements made by the Minister of Interior and the Mayor of Tehran regarding their 'spontaneous' and 'popular' nature. Recently, Alireza Zakani, the Mayor of Tehran, and Ahmad Vahidi, the Minister of Interior, implicitly supported the hijab enforcers stationed in Tehran's metros, describing their goal as enjoining good and forbidding wrong, and emphasized that the municipality and the Ministry of Interior do not intervene in issuing permits for the hijab enforcers. Mohsen Barahani, a law professor at Tehran University, referred to the 'Tunnel of Terror' in the metro and asked, 'If outsiders create a tunnel, would you react as intellectually as this or would you come down on them with Article 610 (conspiracy and collusion)?' A user, rejecting the claim of the 'spontaneous' presence of hijab enforcers, wrote, 'The spontaneity of the support on the hijab and clothing of these women is completely evident!!!' Ehsan Badaghi, a journalist, questioned the photographers accompanying the hijab enforcers, asking, 'If the hijab enforcers are popular and spontaneous, where do they want the images of the people?' Another user wrote, 'Creating a 'Tunnel of Terror' in the metro in the name of hijab does not guide anyone!' They describe being unveiled as a 'political reaction' in the form of 'civil and cultural disobedience against short-sighted, unpopular, and unacceptable officials from the perspective of the majority and their clumsy actions.' Mostafa Faghihi, a journalist and owner of the Entekhab website, sarcastically addressed Iranian officials, stating, 'I wish these gentlemen had justified the hijab enforcers beforehand; they wouldn't have revealed where their contract is with these organized 'spontaneous' individuals!' Azar Mansouri, head of the Iranian Reform Front, also criticized this action by asking, 'What is the difference between hijab enforcers and the morality police?' and wrote, 'Has it not yet been proven to you that this coercion turns against itself?' Abbas Abdi, a sociologist and social researcher, also noted in a column in the Etemad newspaper that the hijab enforcers are government agents and that their actions lead to an increase in the gap between the people and the power and an increase in anger and hatred. Following reports about the presence of chador-clad women at Tehran metro stations who remind opponents of the hijab to comply, some government media have recently defended this action.