The Government's Determination to Confront Women in Iran; Ahmadreza Radan: If the 'Enemy' Crosses the Path of 'Hijab', It Will Pass Everywhere

About a month after Ali Khamenei's order to confront the optional clothing of Iranian women, his appointees emphasized the continuation of women's restrictions in society under the code name 'Hijab and Chastity' and called for more support for this action. Ahmadreza Radan, who traveled to Qom on Friday, May 7, compared 'Chastity and Hijab' to a trench and stated: 'Some trenches are decisive; whether to maintain them or to lose them. If the trench of Hijab and Chastity falls, no one will stand against oppression and tyranny.' The commander of the Islamic Republic's police described the increasing opposition to mandatory hijab despite government crackdowns as 'the enemy's plan' and added: 'This story that has unfolded is the enemy's program. The enemy is fully organized with precise targeting and, of course, determined because if it reaches its goal, it has achieved everything, and if it crosses this path, it will pass everywhere.' At the same time, Ahmad Khatami, Khamenei's representative at Friday prayers in Tehran, stated that 'Hijab is a necessity of religion, and being without Hijab is against Sharia and law,' asserting, 'By God's grace, the Islamic system will stand against being without Hijab.' He also added, 'We cannot force anyone into paradise, but we will stand against anomalies.' Ahmad Alamolhoda, Khamenei's representative in Mashhad, also described the confrontation with optional clothing and women's freedom as 'definite orders issued from the Wilayah' and said: 'In the matter of Hijab, if people want to be spectators and say, 'Mr. Friday preacher, Mr. police officer, you come and fix this anomaly,' it won't work like that.' The father of Ebrahim Raisi's wife referred to loyalists of the regime as 'brothers and sisters' and implicitly invited them to 'act freely,' adding: 'The direction of the revolution in our society is realized with the people's leadership.' Ali Khamenei, the leader of the Islamic Republic, on April 11, in a speech during Eid al-Fitr prayers, issued a new command to the 'commanders of good,' whom he had previously described as 'acting freely,' asking them to 'confront religious violations.' After this order, government agents, led by Ahmadreza Radan, took to the streets and, according to images released on social media, violently confronted women and freedom-seeking men. Many other images, however, indicate that despite the police pressures and the government's determination to suppress, protesting women continue to appear in public without mandatory hijab and receive support from men. The United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights expressed concern over the violent repression of Iranian women by the Islamic Republic under strict hijab laws and simultaneously called for the unconditional release of Tomaj Salehi, a imprisoned protest rapper. In the report published by the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights in Geneva on Friday, May 7, it is stated that the police and plainclothes forces of the Islamic Republic are carrying out violent repression against women and girls, and the men supporting them, under strict hijab laws in Iran. This commission reports having received accounts of the arrest, harassment, and abuse of women and girls, many of whom are aged 15 to 17.