Military in the Streets, Parliament in Baharestan; The Islamic Republic's Comprehensive Effort for a 'War Against Women' in Iran

Simultaneously with the widespread presence of government military forces in the streets of Iran and the escalation of the 'war against women', members of the Islamic Consultative Assembly are also trying to turn the bill known as 'Hijab and Chastity' into law to 'legitimize' restrictions on women. In this context, Mojtaba Zolnour, the Deputy Speaker of the Islamic Consultative Assembly, claimed on April 29 that with the approval of the hijab law, those who have incomplete hijab will not be punished harshly but will be treated in a 'corrective, advisory, and reformative' manner. He also stated: 'Harsh treatment is for those who deliberately violate norms, such as some celebrities and those who intentionally want to confront and fight against the norms, principles, values, and beliefs of the people.' This claim comes as images released in recent days show government agents violently attacking freedom-seeking women and transferring them to police vans and detention centers. Concurrently, Mousa Ghazanfari Abadi, head of the Legal and Judicial Commission of the Assembly, said that the police's approach to women with optional hijab is separate from the Assembly's law known as 'Hijab and Chastity'. He noted: 'We have addressed the shortcomings of the Chastity and Hijab bill in the Assembly and are awaiting the Guardian Council's opinion.' Hamid Rastineh, spokesman for the Cultural Commission of the Assembly, also told 'Rooidad 24': 'The disagreement of some individuals with the government on the hijab issue does not harm our national cohesion at all, as today the majority of our nation accepts hijab as an identity, civilizational issue, and a means of preserving women's dignity centered around the family.' On the other hand, Sedigheh Vosoughi, a critic of the Islamic Republic who was arrested at her home in Tehran on March 16 and transferred to Evin Prison, wrote in an Instagram note: 'Issuing orders to the police and military forces to engage with the people, especially women, for any purpose is an unpatriotic, unforgivable act and against national interests, and the responsibility for the resulting atrocities will fall on those who issue this order and its executors.' Narges Mohammadi, a human rights defender and Nobel Peace Prize winner who is also in Evin Prison, emphasized in a message published on her Instagram account on Wednesday, April 29: 'The Islamic Republic, out of desperation, has turned the streets into a battlefield against women and youth to alleviate the incurable pain of its illegitimacy and the collapse of its authority through intimidation and fear, and to heal the weakness and absurdity of its claims on the global stage with crude domination and bullying inside.' Ali Khamenei, the leader of the Islamic Republic, in his Eid al-Fitr prayer speech on Wednesday, April 22, issued a new order to the 'commanders of virtue', whom he had previously described as 'fire at will', asking them to 'deal with religious norm violations'. Hours after Khamenei's order, the Tehran police announced the implementation of a plan known as 'Noor' to 'combat hijab unveiling' starting Saturday, April 25.