Increased Government Pressure on Women Under the Pretext of Hijab; Basij and Plainclothes Forces Given Orders

The Shargh news website reported on the expansion of the government's crackdown against the right to choose and the dress of Iranian women, stating that plainclothes agents and Basij forces have been given orders to stop and inspect vehicles. In this report, Shargh reflected the accounts of some women regarding the confiscation of their cars under the pretext of improper hijab, noting that the confiscation of personal vehicles due to hijab violations has entered a new phase, with government forces in plain clothes acting as undercover police to stop vehicles without providing documentation, citing the hijab of the driver or passengers as justification. The report also mentioned that vehicle confiscation is not limited to city streets, with reports indicating that several vehicles have also been stopped and moved to parking lots on intercity roads. Mohsen Barahani, a lawyer, previously stated, 'There is no legal basis for confiscating vehicles due to hijab, and the only claim made is based on the illegal decree of the National Hijab and Chastity Headquarters, which the Minister of Interior has issued, and this decree is contrary to the Constitution and existing laws.' The Judiciary of the Islamic Republic recently claimed, referring to a clause in Article 5 of the 'Law on the Support of Promoters of Virtue and Preventers of Vice,' that 'the interior of a vehicle is not considered a private space and is regarded as a space visible to the public.' Images of the beginning of confrontations between the public and harassers and defenders of mandatory hijab at the Armitaj Mall in Mashhad, resistance against harassers and defenders of mandatory hijab in Shahin Shahr, Isfahan, the transfer of Roya Zakeri from a psychiatric hospital to an intelligence detention center; a lawyer stated: her life is in danger. The newspaper 'Jomhouri Eslami' claimed: the brain death of 'Armita Garavand' is confirmed. The continuation of treatment closures under the pretext of hijab; systematic violation of people's property by the government. The Expediency Discernment Council deemed two articles of the 'Hijab and Chastity' bill contrary to the policies of the regime.