Khamenei: They Spent So Much to Have a Few Girls Remove Their Hijabs

Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, the leader of the Islamic Republic of Iran, on Thursday, March 8, in his first response to the protests against mandatory hijab, described these protests as a result of "the extensive propaganda of enemies and their exorbitant costs to negatively influence the issue of hijab." In his remarks coinciding with International Women's Day, he stated: "They spent so much, thought and propagandized, that as a result, a few girls were deceived and removed their hijabs in corners, and all their efforts were summarized in this small and insignificant result." Khamenei also mentioned, "What makes me sensitive is the issue of mandatory hijab being raised by some elites." He then pointed out that among these individuals, there are "journalists, pseudo-intellectuals, and clerics" and emphasized that despite critics' claims, Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini, the founder of the Islamic Republic, also "stood firm like a mountain and said hijab must exist." In recent weeks, several critics have referred to religious and political history to criticize the continuation of mandatory hijab. Currently, Iran is the only country where "observance of hijab" is mandatory for all women, including non-Muslim or foreign women. In recent months, several women, in an action known as the "Girls of Revolution Street," have protested against mandatory hijab and gender inequalities by raising their hijabs in public places. In his speech on Thursday, which was delivered in the presence of religious poets and mourners, Khamenei also harshly criticized what he called the "characteristics of Western women" and described the issue of gender justice in the West as "superficial." He reiterated the old slogan of the Islamic Republic that "hijab is a means of protection for women, not limitation," referring to "the acknowledgment of many Western women in recent months of being exposed to abuse and violence" and stated: "Islam has closed the door on this deviation through hijab." Khamenei did not name these "prominent women." In recent months, several women in the U.S. have revealed instances of sexual harassment and gender inequalities that led to firings or apologies. These women were mainly employed in various artistic fields. On the other hand, some social media users also shared their personal experiences using hashtags like "Me Too." Khamenei's remarks were made on the same day reports from Tehran indicated that the police violently prevented a gathering of women outside the Ministry of Labor. Furthermore, public protests against mandatory hijab, which began in December in Iran, have so far led to the arrest of over 35 women, including Vida Mohammadi, Narges Hosseini, Azam Jangrooi, Shaparak Shajari-Zadeh, and Maryam Shariatmadari. Meanwhile, Abbas Jafari Dolatabadi, the Tehran prosecutor, announced on Wednesday, without naming anyone, the issuance of a 24-month "prison sentence" for one of the detainees, accusing her of "encouraging people to corruption through hijab removal." These actions occur while Abdolreza Rahmani Fazli, the Iranian Minister of Interior, announced that the issue of hijab will be discussed in the next meeting of the National Social Council, stating that the "severity" applied to hijab after the revolution has not achieved the desired result. According to some laws of the Islamic Republic, women cannot leave the country without their husband's permission, inherit half of what men do, and are normally deprived of the right to divorce and custody of their children. Women are also barred from attaining positions such as leadership, presidency, membership in the Assembly of Experts, and military positions. Since 1979, Marzieh Vahid Dastjerdi has been the only female minister in the governments of the Islamic Republic.