On the Occasion of Increased Pilgrims for Arbaeen; Police Say Women Can Travel to Iraq Without 'Husband's Notarized Permission'

The spokesperson for the Islamic Republic's Law Enforcement Command stated that women can obtain passports for travel to Iraq without the notarized permission of their husbands. According to a report by Mehr News Agency, the police spokesperson said that arrangements have been made regarding exit permits for women, granting passport officials the authority to issue pilgrimage passports without requiring the notarized consent of husbands. Women can visit passport police offices with their husbands, where their marital status will be confirmed by the relevant official upon reviewing necessary documents, and this confirmation will be recorded in the system, allowing the document to serve as the exit permit for the wife. This method also applies to children under 18. This police measure comes at a time when women face strict limitations for educational or tourism travel, particularly regarding the need for permission from husbands or guardians. This appears to be the latest action by the Iranian government to increase the number of pilgrims attending the Arbaeen ceremony in Karbala. For over a decade, the Iranian government has been sending pilgrims to commemorate the fortieth day after the martyrdom of the third Imam of Shia Islam, attempting to portray it as a spontaneous and organized movement by the people and benefactors interested in the Ahl al-Bayt. While the police have announced easing travel for women without 'notarized permission,' according to the law, women need a notarized consent form from their husbands to obtain an exit permit after marriage. Men can also prevent their wives from leaving the country and confiscate their passports at any time by visiting the passport police. Additionally, every married Iranian woman must obtain written permission from her husband to acquire or renew her passport, and there is a specific section in passport forms for the husband's consent and signature, which must also be certified at a notary office. Only women residing abroad with their husbands, those married to foreign men, and women traveling for Hajj do not require notarized permission. Last month, the Judicial Commission of the Islamic Consultative Assembly approved a bill prohibiting Iranian women from leaving the country without the permission of a 'guardian.' This bill, presented under the title 'Prohibition of Violence Against Women,' states that 'women's exit from the country' under 'normal conditions' must be 'with the guardian's consent' and 'in special cases' must be 'by court order.' Previously, only married women needed their husbands' permission to leave the country. However, if this bill is enacted, it will impose travel restrictions on half of the country's population, as girls over 18 and divorced women can only leave the country with their 'guardian's' permission. The introduction of more restrictions on women's and girls' travel abroad comes a year after 17-year-old Mona Heydari was returned to Ahvaz by her father and uncle, who was also her father-in-law, while she was trying to leave the country to start a new life, after which her husband beheaded her. Recently, the issuance of only 'eight years and three months in prison' for the murderer of this child bride, who publicly displayed her severed head in Ahvaz, has drawn reactions from social media users, with some comparing this sentence to those given to minor protesters. The civil laws of the Islamic Republic grant men the 'right' to deprive their wives of the right to leave the country. In recent years, the inability of some female athletes, including Samira Zargari, Zahra Nemati, and Niloufar Ardalan, to participate in international competitions due to being banned from leaving by their husbands has made headlines. Reports from the Voice of America correspondent in Iraq regarding the presence of Iranian pilgrims for the Arbaeen ceremony indicate the establishment of the Arbaeen carnival despite shortcomings in the country; a report by Shahram Bahraminejad highlights the costly and heavily advertised Arbaeen pilgrimage. In a bus accident involving Iranian Arbaeen pilgrims in Iraq, at least nine people were killed. The cost of Arbaeen is estimated at three trillion tomans, with the Reconstruction Headquarters of the Holy Shrines setting up 'three thousand Iranian tents.'