Police Claim About the Violent Arrest of a Woman: She Threw Hot Coffee at Officers

The Islamic Republic's police command claimed regarding the video released of a woman being wrapped in a blanket without mandatory hijab that she, while 'breaking norms,' also 'threw the hot contents of a coffee cup at the officers.' The police also claimed that this woman confessed to this action in the police vehicle. The police information center stated on Thursday, May 17, that this 'young woman' was walking on Motahari Street on May 13 when the 'special unit for the implementation of the Noor plan' warned her due to 'unveiling and public violation of the law.' The 'Noor plan' is a new name recently adopted by the police instead of the morality patrol, aimed at dealing with women and girls who do not believe in mandatory hijab. The police claimed that this woman without mandatory hijab 'while breaking norms, threw the hot contents of a cup (coffee) at the officers and intended to escape, prompting female personnel to cover this woman and subsequently transfer her to the vehicle.' In another part of this claim, it was stated that 'in the reviewed footage from the vehicle's camera, the mentioned individual confesses to throwing the hot contents at the officers.' The police information center also released a video that has been edited, with jump cuts, part of which shows a van containing several detained girls and women. According to a video published by a citizen-journalist of this incident, two female officers forcibly put a woman, who appears to be without a headscarf, into an unmarked van, during which her clothes were torn off, and she was thrown by the officers towards the street curb. Then one of the officers brought a blanket and forcibly covered the woman before putting her into the van. The release of this video had widespread repercussions on social media, to the extent that the Minister of Interior of the Islamic Republic reacted to it. However, Ahmad Vahidi defended the actions of the police officers, stating that their actions were 'in accordance with regulations.' Violent confrontations with women in Iran regarding mandatory hijab continue, while well-known domestic figures and human rights organizations, both domestic and foreign, warn against its continuation. Shima Qosheh, a lawyer, tweeted regarding the 'blanket wrapping' of this woman, stating, 'The fact that they have blankets in their unmarked vehicles for emergencies makes the situation scarier.' Previously, Zahra Rahnavard, a leader of the 2009 protests who is under house arrest, stated in a message that 'the government shamelessly beats women in public and in front of the eyes of the people and media of Iran and the world, kills their protesting children, and imprisons their mourners, while continuing its innovative morality patrol and committing femicide.'