Reiteration of Raisi's Assistant's Opposition to the 85th Article Status of the Hijab Bill

As some members of the Islamic Consultative Assembly strive to implement the bill known as 'Hijab and Chastity' in the upcoming October, the legal assistant to the President of the Islamic Republic has reiterated her opposition to the '85th Article status' and the off-floor examination of this controversial bill. According to the Tehran-based newspaper 'Ham-Mihan', Sakineh Sadat-Pad, legal assistant to Ebrahim Raisi in 'pursuing rights and social freedoms', criticized the 85th Article status of the 'Hijab Bill' and stated once again that this action contradicts Article 85 of the Constitution of the Islamic Republic. She added: Article 85 of the Constitution states 'essential cases', and now hijab has become 'a social issue' that everyone is sensitive about, which is 'against the spirit of Article 85.' This is the second time in recent weeks that this close figure to Ebrahim Raisi has publicly declared her opposition to the examination method of the so-called 'Hijab and Chastity Law'; an opposition that has thus far only been from her personal position and has not been formally expressed by the President of the Islamic Republic or in writing to the Islamic Consultative Assembly. In this context, even Ebrahim Raisi, on August 9, in a speech defending mandatory hijab, stated: 'The issue of unveiling will definitely be resolved, do not worry.' Following the widespread anti-government protests last year, which peaked after the death of Mahsa Amini in the custody of the morality police and during which opposition to certain laws such as mandatory hijab became more apparent, the institutions of the Islamic Republic intensified their crackdowns and imposed political-social restrictions under various pretexts. Among the actions taken by the Islamic Republic to control civil protests against women's mandatory dress was the drafting of the 'Chastity and Hijab' bill and its submission to the Islamic Consultative Assembly. This bill is expected to be approved by representatives in accordance with Article 85 of the Constitution of the Islamic Republic. Furthermore, according to this decision of the legislative branch of the Islamic Republic, the examination and approval of the Hijab and Chastity bill has been entrusted to a selected commission of the Assembly so that its details can be approved without a vote in the public assembly, and only the duration of its trial implementation will be put to a public vote by the representatives. Jalal Mahmoudzadeh, a member of the Assembly, stated in the public session on August 13, opposing the examination of the 85th Article status of this bill, that according to this constitutional article, 'the position of representation is personal and cannot be delegated to another' and the Assembly cannot delegate legislative work to a person or committee 'except in essential cases.' He added that in Article 85, 'essential cases' are mentioned, which seems that in the discussion of this bill, which is very important and affects all members of society and the country, it should not be hurriedly examined in a committee and 'only be approved by the vote of 8 people.' The statements made on September 8 by the legal assistant to Ebrahim Raisi come at a time when, according to the state news agency 'IRNA', Amir Hossein Bankipour, head of the Family and Youth Protection Law Commission of the Assembly, claimed on September 4 that '99 percent' of the provisions of the Hijab and Chastity bill are 'not gender-based', predicting that the law known as Chastity and Hijab would be implemented from 'October of this year.' On the other hand, Mohsen Barahani, a legal expert and suspended faculty member of Tehran University, had previously written in a post on the social media platform X (Twitter): 'In the disgraceful hijab resolution, three individuals played the most significant roles; Messrs. Ghalibaf, Ghazanfarpour, and Jalil Mohibi.' Regardless of the current dispute among some officials of the Islamic Republic over the manner and method of approving this bill, Pegah Bani Hashemi, a legal expert, told the Persian section of 'Voice of America' that the Hijab and Chastity bill, regardless of the process by which it is approved and ultimately implemented, will 'violate the rights of children and women' in Iran.