Objective: Imposing Mandatory Hijab and Government Dress Code; 7,000 Police Officers to be Deployed on Northern Iranian Beaches

The deputy commander of the Islamic Republic's police announced the deployment of 7,000 police officers to the northern beaches of Iran for "controlling the beaches and recreational areas." This action is part of the Islamic Republic's policies to impose mandatory hijab and the government-mandated dress code. Qasem Rezaei threatened that any form of "norm-breaking" at the beaches would be met with "serious legal action." Officials of the Islamic Republic have referred to mandatory hijab and government prohibitions in the realm of individual and social freedoms, especially for women in Iran, as "norms" and punish non-compliance under the pretext of "norm-breaking." The deputy commander claimed that the law obliges this force to confront "unusual and norm-breaking attire" of both women and men. He described the mandatory hijab and the government-approved dress code for men and women as "legal norms" and characterized non-compliance as committing a "visible crime." Every year at the beginning of summer and the peak of travel, especially to northern regions of Iran, the Islamic Republic's police intensify measures to impose government dress codes and mandatory hijab on the public. Ahmad Reza Radan, the police chief, had previously reported on both physical and electronic monitoring of Iran's beaches to combat "norm-breakers." The crackdown on women under the guise of mandatory hijab has faced widespread criticism from human rights organizations. The U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom issued a statement in May of this year, highlighting the increasing repression of women and girls in Iran for "defying" mandatory hijab laws and calling for more sanctions against Islamic Republic officials, including security officials. Earlier, Diana Tahavi, deputy director for the Middle East and North Africa at Amnesty International, stated that "Iranian officials are engaged in a sinister effort to break the will of resistance against mandatory hijab, instilling fear in women and girls by subjecting them to security surveillance and police actions, disrupting their daily lives and inflicting severe psychological pressure on them." The Iranian Writers' Association: Writers, journalists, and artists should be the "echo of the voices of the oppressed people." The Islamic Republic's police blocked 35 Instagram pages for allegedly "promoting a Western lifestyle." Aida Shakeri faces trial on charges of encouraging corruption and prostitution and resisting officials. Zhina Modarres-Gorji, a journalist and women's rights activist, was sentenced to 21 years in prison.