Verbal Struggle Within the Government Over 'Hijab and Chastity Law'

According to ILNA news agency, Shahram Dabiri, the parliamentary deputy of the government of Pezeshkian, regarding the submission of the 'Chastity and Hijab' law to the Supreme National Security Council, stated: 'We have requested that this law not be communicated to the government and remain pending until a decision can be made in the future, allowing us to send a reform bill for it.' Dabiri added that discussions have taken place with the Speaker of the Parliament and some representatives regarding the government's bill, but no specific meeting has been held. The 'Chastity and Hijab' law, which was drafted in response to the killing of Mahsa Amini and the nationwide uprising of 1401, as a reaction by the government to the growing opposition of women to mandatory hijab, has faced a wave of public protests since its publication on December 1. This law has been passed back and forth among the three branches of government and the Guardian Council for months, and following the announcement of its finalization, it has led to increased positions among senior officials and internal factions of the Islamic Republic. Simultaneously, in an interview with Khabar Online, Siamak Rahpeyk, the Deputy Secretary of the Guardian Council, emphasized that if the government, parliament, or judiciary have issues, they can propose amendments to the parliament 'without the need for unnecessary uproar' to make the changes 'legally.' The so-called 'Chastity and Hijab' law, structured in 74 articles and 5 chapters, has been finalized after multiple exchanges between the parliament, the Guardian Council, and the Expediency Discernment Council of the Islamic Republic. According to this law, women who appear without mandatory hijab more than four times 'in real or virtual space' will face accusations such as 'promoting or advertising nudity, immorality, uncovering hijab, or improper clothing' and will be sentenced to pay a fine of at least 330 million tomans. This punishment, 'at the discretion of the judicial authority,' may include 'prohibition from leaving the country for up to two years' and 'prohibition from activity in virtual space for six months to two years,' and 'in subsequent instances,' the monetary penalty will increase to 500 million tomans with 'one degree of intensification.' Based on the published table of penalties from degree one to eight of the Islamic Penal Code, repeating the act of appearing without mandatory hijab more than four times will lead to a degree four monetary penalty (up to 330 million tomans), and 'one degree of intensification' means increasing the monetary penalty to degree three (up to 500 million tomans). Women in favor of optional covering will be fined between five to 165 million tomans for their first four appearances without mandatory hijab 'in public view.' On the other hand, based on Article 71 of this law, the government is required to allocate an annual budget for the provision of cameras for this plan to the command of the Islamic Republic's Law Enforcement Force. In part of this law, designing or advertising items such as clothing, figures, and toys is also considered a crime if, according to its authors, it 'promotes nudity' and 'uncovering hijab and improper clothing,' and will face monetary and supplementary penalties. According to this law, the presence of opponents of mandatory hijab in real or virtual space will lead to penalties for owners of virtual and non-virtual businesses, organizers of groups, tours, and platforms for publishing audio or video in virtual space as well. Meanwhile, the closure of business units in recent months has been one of the tools of the Islamic Republic to impose 'mandatory hijab' in society. Furthermore, according to Article 66 of this law, if a 13-year-old child mocks the mandatory hijab in their social media profile two times or more, at the discretion of the judge, they will be sentenced to imprisonment from three months to one year in a 'rehabilitation center,' a fine of 330 to 500 million tomans, or other educational and corrective measures. Following the killing of Mahsa Amini in the custody of the morality police in September 2022, which led to the largest nationwide protests against the Islamic Republic, women and girls in Iran have increasingly insisted on the right to choose their clothing, appearing without mandatory hijab in public and virtual spaces. The Iranian government's efforts to enforce mandatory hijab over the past two years have also been fruitless so far. On the other hand, the suppression of women under the pretext of mandatory hijab by the Islamic Republic has led to widespread international criticism. The 'Chastity and Hijab' law in Iran; the High Commissioner for Human Rights has called for the repeal of this law. The Iranian Writers' Association and civil activists condemned the mandatory hijab law. The 'Hijab' law; the government: we will provide a reform bill; a member of parliament: notification by next week. UN experts: the mandatory hijab law must be repealed immediately. Comparison of monetary penalties for not adhering to mandatory hijab and drug trafficking. Amnesty International: the mandatory hijab law exacerbates the oppression of women. Concerns of the Pezeshkian government about 'civil disobedience' in the event of the implementation of the 'Chastity and Hijab' law.